Journey Inside a Dangerous Mind
by Kadeana
Summary: Julia Chang is asked to interview the most dangerous criminal the world ever tried to hold in captivity. Old feelings resurface as she becomes stuck in the webs of his sad tale. Set in the timeline where Devil Jin wins the tournament. JinxJulia
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken or the characters within the series. This awesome series and the wonderful characters within it are the property of Namco. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

Journey Inside a Dangerous Mind  
Chapter 1: Interview With the Devil  
By: Kadeana

Four silent guards with laser rifles surrounded Julia Chang in a protective circle as she was escorted down the halls of a huge prison. It was an enclosure built to incarcerate one powerful being—a being that she once thought she loved. As Julia and her escorts stepped inside an elevator, she let go of a long breath she had been holding. The prison was a magnificent structure. It was a black fortress that had to be several stories high and it looked like an old medieval castle tower.

She could not truly appreciate its architectural splendor because of the reason why she was summoned there.

_I wonder if they have truly deluded themselves into believing that they are holding him here, against his will, _she thought, as the elevator traveled upwards and brought her closer and closer to his madness. Jin Kazama didn't do anything he didn't want to do. The government—more specifically, The United States government—could not be this gullible.

For his numerous and deviously vindictive crimes, the world sentenced Jin to life imprisonment. The couldn't sentence Jin to death because know one knew how to kill him. The United States took on the task of housing such an unpredictable criminal.

Julia had thought the entire production a puppet show with Jin as the puppet master and nothing had happened yet to disprove her theory.

The prolonged ride to, what had to be the very top—or very close to it—of the holding facility soon ended—to her immense relief. There was only so much elevator a person could take before they started to get vertigo. There was no numbers on the control panel for Julia to know just what floor of the building she was on but she was sure she was close to outer space. And five minutes later . . . Julia found herself in his holding cell.

That is . . . if you could call this wonderful place a holding cell.

It looked and was furnished like a small apartment. He was sitting on a blue cushion, which was positioned in the center of a small carpet, with his long legs crossed. Julia knew better than to interrupt him—in whatever it was that he was doing—so she sat down on the futon and waited for him to acknowledge her presence. She pulled her tape recorder, pen, and notebook out and sat them on the small table.

But after twenty minutes, she looked over at him in annoyance because the exasperating man had not moved a muscle since she had first arrived. _You know that I'm here._ She couldn't help the frown of displeasure even if she tried but folded her arms in her effort to stop herself from getting up, meandering over to his side, and then snatching the cushion out from under him. She decided to wait ten more minutes but after that time passed he still had not acknowledged her presence. She unfolded her arms, stood to her feet, and walked over to him. She sat down on her knees in front of him and stared into open brown eyes that peered at people and objects she could not see.

She learned from some of his guards that this was a common ritual of his.

_I wonder what it is that you see._

* * *

Jin Kazama watched a younger version of himself getting closer and closer to the location of—what was once known as—Mishima Jinpachi._ I was such a fool,_ he thought shaking his head. It was ignorance at its most innocent. His swagger was heroic enough but he was still walking to his own ruin.

At that time of his existence, he was known only as Kazama Jun's beloved son and Mishima Kazuya's unwanted bastard.

The child of destiny . . . and the one who vowed to end the Mishima bloodline forever.

He snapped out of his trivial musings and walked forward to start the new scene of the play he was trying to create. Ling Xiaoyu, Kazama Asuka, and Yoshimitsu were out there somewhere and had no place in this scene. It would not do for the young warriors to see him . . . yet.

His younger self never heard him coming, and when he stepped in the abyss where the old temple once stood, he made his move. He rushed forward and elbowed his younger self in the face. He flipped over from the force of the blow and was unconscious before he hit the ground. Jin calmly pulled his younger self out of harm's way.

He then waited for the old creature to make his appearance.

Killing Mishima Jinpachi, once again, made him even more powerful but this time, he could easily control the power because of the mistakes he learned from during their last encounter.

The new stage was officially set.

* * *

Five minutes later, Asuka heard the terrible screams as something—or someone—died. It had to be a something because the sound was so inhuman and creepy. She ran full speed in that direction to see what in the hell was going on and if her aid was needed. The barrier mist that previously blocked her path way was now gone. The oppressing purplish haze was now clearing affording Asuka a good view to what was on the other side. Her feet propelled her toward a young man who was lying in the gravel. If you could call him a young man because he looked more like a demon, bat, goat boy.

He seemed . . . familiar to her for some unknown reason.

"Are you okay?" She got down on her knees beside him and hoped that her concern hid her disturbance over his appearance. "Do you need help?" She waited for his answer for a few moments. _Hey! I'm talking here! _She silently ranted.

She touched her hand to his shoulder and then looked heavenward for guidance. She never noticed she healed him with her touch and he became human once more. He sat up and she started babbling about getting him some help. More than a little disturbed by his change in appearance or species.

But . . . she did _notice_ when he managed to fall forward, his idiot head finding a resting place between her breasts. His head stayed in that position for a few seconds and then he stood on unsteady legs. She got to her feet, pissed beyond her wildest dreams. She tried to play the good guy and look where that stupid crap got her! She took great pleasure out of trying to punch the perverseness out of him and then she stomped off in an angry huff.

* * *

Ling Xiaoyu and Yoshimitsu found Jin reeling from that powerful Kazama punch. Xiaoyu ran to him her eyes shinning in happiness. Her beloved Jin was still alive but Yoshimitsu hung back feeling like an intruder on the intimate scene.

"Jin-san, are you okay?" Xiaoyu asked hopefully.

"I think so," he replied. She helped him up to his feet and started to try to wipe the dust away from his shirt.

She sighed, sounding as if the entire world was on her shoulders. "I was so worried about you."

"Where's Panda and Taiachi-kun?" Jin held his head in agony.

"He stayed behind with Panda. Because she got a thorn in her paw," Xiaoyu replied. "Yoshimitsu caught up with me, on my way here." She smiled. "We came to help you."

"I told you to stay away from here." Jin could not keep the anger and frustration out of his tone. She was one person that he did not want to get hurt.

"I couldn't let you face that guy alone, Jin-san." Xiaoyu was horrified at the notion of such nonsense. "Have you lost your mind?"

"You are a normal human being, Xiaoyu-chan. This is no place for someone like you." A normal girl with dreams of a normal life which he could never live.

"Stop treating me like a child!" She released him and folded her arms angrily. "I have the same rights to be here, as you have."

"I will . . . when you stop acting like a child."

She turned away from him and homed in on her partner-in-crime and practically wailed, "Yoshi-sama, tell him to leave me alone."

"He's right, Xiaoyu-chan," Yoshimitsu replied.

"You, shut-up." Xiaoyu pouted, wishing that Tai-san was there to defend her honor. He wouldn't let them talk to her like she was a child.

"Let's go," Jin commanded.

"Hey, Jin-san . . . doesn't this mean you own the Mishima Zaibatsu now?" Xiaoyu asked happily. His earlier rudeness to her honor was forgotten.

"It appears that I do." He sighed and his shoulders sagged as if the world was on his shoulders and it was too heavy for him to bear.

"Hire me!" she commanded hopefully.

"No."

"Yoshi-sama, tell him to hire—Hey where'd he go?" Xiaoyu made a face. Yoshimitsu had disappeared. He was always doing that. Once she thought about it . . . so was Tai. _It must be a trait of the Manji-clan. _She decided then and there that it was a stupid trait.

* * *

The dimensional traveling Jin went to check on her before returning to his dimension. He'd laced her drink with a sleeping pill so she would not be in the way—which was one of her many specialties. The younger Julia Chang was asleep in her bed, clad only in her underwear. He stared down at her for a moment and then picked her up. She sighed, resting her head against his chest. He pulled the covers back and placed her under them. He kissed her lips, placed the covers over her, and then disappeared.

* * *

Julia leaned in closer to Jin to make sure he wasn't dead. She placed her hands on his shoulders, bravely preparing herself to shake him, but almost had a heart attack when he came out of his trance and grabbed both her wrists. "Konnichi-wa." His eyes focused in on her. "Shall we begin, onna?"

* * *

A/N: This story will be a lot different than my first Tekken story. When I saw Devil Jin's ending, it started new plot bunnies in my head. I ended up finishing this first chapter before my official end of "A Tekken Tale," so I decided to go ahead and posting it. I don't know when the next update will be, but it's coming.

**Edit: **May 6, 2013


	2. Julia

Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken or the characters within the series. This awesome series and the wonderful characters within it are the property of Namco. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

Journey Inside a Dangerous Mind  
Chapter 2: Julia  
By: Kadeana

Julia Chang gazed at Jin Kazama, her eyes wide and her expression could almost be described as . . . frightened. His eyes were as tortured as they ever were and called for someone, anyone, to take up the banner and fight for his soul. The brown depths fooled many a people after the fifth, King of the Iron Fist Tournament—and she was embarrassed to admit that she was among the number of the ones fooled. She closed her own eyes when she realized he was studying her face with an unnerving intensity.

She sat with her back straight. Her well-toned body held a womanly grace that always intrigued him. Her long brown locks were pulled back into two neat braids. The headband that seemed apart of her being was not in its rightful place. He guessed it was missing in rebellion for having to interview him. Her eyes finally opened, shining in defiance._ The proud princess returned?_ He released her from his grip and she quickly got to her feet. Her arms were akimbo and to his amusement, she did not bow to him in greeting. She always was too brave for her own good.

"Konnichi-wa, Kazama-san." She didn't even try to fake warmth that she didn't have the ability to feel for him anymore. "I am here on behalf of the government." A government she was quite miffed at. Julia was not a reporter and why they came to her and demanded that she do this interview was beyond her comprehension of logic. Her presence would only upset him in some way or another—and the government would not dream of doing that—so all this had to be his doing. She decided she better be on her guard because there was no telling what he had planned for her.

He only saw her as an object of his entertainment—which was pretty much how he viewed the entire world in general.

"That is very intriguing to me." He stood to his feet his eyes never wavering from hers. "The fiery little miss with her own code . . . now on another leash." To his pleasure her eyes sparked angrily—in an unexpected glimpse of the Julia of the past. The one buried by grief and a misplaced sense of loyalty to her mother's memory.

"Leash?" she repeated in a whisper. Jin felt like he could almost feel the chill from her icy tone.

"When first we met, you were this fiery creature . . . that would go to any lengths to get Chang-san back," he replied. "When you failed in that mission, in atonement you turned yourself into a shadow of her. A leash that repressed the fiery, passionate side of your being . . . For much too long." He strolled over to his futon and sat down. She followed him with her honey colored eyes. It was almost like he was the hunted and she was the hunter and it amused him to no end.

She decided then that she liked him much better back in the days when he could have been considered half mute! "Kazama-san, it is not your place to evaluate me," she replied, her back stiffening. "I am the interviewer here. Besides . . . I don't want to be here anymore that you want me here . . . So let me do my job, and then I'll leave."

"Shall we begin, then?" he repeated. Her eyes narrowed like that of a cat stalking its pray but instead of pouncing on him—much to his disappointment—she walked over to the futon and then grabbed her tape recorder, notebook, and pen that sat on the small table in front of it. She walked to the opposite side of the table from the futon and sat on the cushion he had vacated.

She cut on the recorder and then pressed the play button. "Tell us about the events that occurred during the Third King of the Iron Fist Tournament," she commanded. "The events that changed you from that of a normal kid . . . to the _being_ that you are today."

_Kid. _Her bravado always did amuse him to no end. Who else in the world—other than Kazama Asuka—would have had the nerve to say that to him? And the way she said 'the being' was as if he was something that crawled out of the most vilest place that ever existed.

"I was nineteen by then," he pointed out. "Why start there?" She pressed the pause button on the recorder.

"It is during that period that the changes began," she replied. "Also, out of respect of the late Kazama-san, I will leave out details about her life. The things that she would not wish to be known." _Nothing more, nothing less,_ she thought as his left eyebrow rose in silent questions.

She took the recorder off pause and then looked at him expectantly. "The tournament of fate," he said one side of his lips slightly rising. "It was intended to be 'my presentation to the world' party. But in own my eyes . . . it was all about revenge."

"Revenge?" she prompted.

"I knew that the creature that killed someone precious to me . . . would surely surface at that tournament. It would be naturally drawn to the strength of the warriors involved in it," Jin replied. "I wanted to face him again . . . and this time . . . the outcome would be very different. For I had trained many a years, under the guidance of Mishima Heihachi, to ready myself . . . for the time we met next."

"Continue on with the tournament," she requested.

"I met four very strange people in this tournament, and they all forced me to look outside the realm of revenge, that I had enclosed myself in," he replied. "Ling Xiaoyu, she and I attended the same high school, and she was another ward of my ojii-sama's. She was determined to be my friend. There was also Hwoarang. A man from Korea who ignorantly branded himself my equal. But at that time, in my life, it is debatable that he was. And there was, Julia Chang. A young fiery American, who had the gall to try and kidnap me"—she gave him a look that he could almost call condescending—"and hold me for ransom to get her mother back. And the fourth was Yoshimitsu-sama, a Robin Hood like thief, who irony of ironies . . . acted as my conscience."

"But, why? Of all the fighters in this tournament, why did these four stand out the most to you?" she asked scribbling about his physical emotions in her notebook. Jin's expressionless face wasn't much to write about, but she desperately needed away to brace herself for the insults that she was sure to come her way.

"The American was like no other female I had ever encountered before," he replied, "or wants to encounter like that, ever again. Most understood, upon first introduction, that I was not to be trifled with. And then quickly fled in the other direction. Xiao-chan, of course, ignored all my subtle 'go to hell' expressions. The infuriating little American, however, she met them head on."

* * *

Nineteen-year old Jin Kazama, fatigued of the day's events, walked the grounds of his grandfather's vast estate so he could just . . . relax. He enjoyed Central America very much and thought it was beautiful and once he got over the change in humidity, he went exploring and never stopped the calming ritual after the first jaunt. Since that first trip, he saw many interesting things while exploring. There were different types of wildlife that he'd only seen before in books and on the computer. Beautiful plants . . . and best of all . . . a beautiful native girl.

The previous day, on one of his excursions, he saw a girl swimming in a lake. He had not approached her, not wanting to disturb the enchanting scene. He just watched her from afar, wondering who she was. Why was she on Mishima grounds? And what was her story? Thinking of her forced a small smile to grace lips that had seemed to forget how to smile.

And now . . . she was following him. She couldn't know that he was aware of her; that he grew up in nature such as this; and that he could hear her soft steps. He could even hear her soft breathing. If he had been anyone else, Jin was sure she would have gone completely unnoticed.

He did not consider her much of a threat so he let his mind wander to more stressing topics. . .

The start of The King of the Iron Fist Tournament, would begin in a couple of days. He could not wait to destroy the being that murdered his beloved mother. And in doing so . . . he could finally let her rest in peace.

He also wanted Mishima Heihachi-sama's approval but Jin often wondered if he was asking too much of his grandfather. His Ojii-sama accepted him but Jin sensed something there that wasn't quite right. He put those uneasy thoughts aside because the mystery surrounding his birth would be hard for anyone to understand and accept as the truth. He was grateful that Heihachi took him in and trained him.

A lesser man would have sent Jin away and never looked back once.

He'd almost reached the forest edge when he heard, "Stop where you are." So . . . she had finally decided to let her presence be known. He did as she commanded. "Turn around, very slowly." Jin started to turn. "And don't make any sudden moves." _Bossy onna._ Jin turned dramatically slow.

Hanging around with Ling Xiaoyu was having unusual effects on him. Usually, his patience would've worn thin and he would've ignored the girl—hurting her tender feelings—or most likely just given her a scathing glare that would make her tremble with fear. Now he had more patience and developed somewhat of a sense of humor. He'd seen Xiao-chan do this exact thing to plenty of people, including his grandfather, when he was attempting to discipline her.

No need to be mean to the homeless girl—who obviously thought the he was the one trespassing on lands that belong to his grandfather. Land that would, maybe, belong to him . . . someday.

"Stop that!" she commanded. "Do you even realize how annoying that is?" He stopped moving completely, inwardly pleased that his plan had worked. "Now turn around and no more idiotic tricks!" An innocent command that just pleaded for more idiotic tricks but he decided to go along with her request.

He finally tuned to face her and her own eyes were trying to rip him to shreds with a scathing glare he could swear she borrowed from himself, Hwoarang, or Ojii-san. Her pretty mouth was set into a determined frown that didn't really fit her face. Her well-toned, tanned body was clothed in blue jeans and a little doeskin vest, covering a green sports bra. Her hair was parted down the middle in two braids. Some of her hair fell forward to frame her face. A red headband with yellow, green, blue, red, and black pyramids decorated her head, with a red feather protruding from its side.

He had the sneaky suspicion that she was the complete opposite of the menacing aura she was trying to project toward him.

"You are my prisoner." _I am?_ Jin thought looking at her blankly. "Since your ugly, old grandfather," Jin simmered at this, "is so fond of kidnapping people . . . I've decided to return the favor."

"Kidnap?" He repeated and couldn't stop the bewildered expression that matched his feelings of astonishment. Heihachi had him studying the English language pretty much the moment he was under his roof. He had planned not to reveal he spoke anything but Japanese but she had thrown him for a loop. This was a kidnapping?

"Yes! Now come with me!" she commanded. "We need to get back to my camp before nightfall."

Jin just stared at her, wondering how he ended up in this absurd situation. How did this little onna think she could take him prisoner? It would take more than her to capture him. After training under his grandfather, it would take an entire army.

Where was her weapon? Did she think he'd just bend to her will like a puppet and follow her? Pretending to do so would probably prove to be amusing but this was just too much. He folded his arms and shook his head in disbelief. "I think . . . that I am insulted."

"Like I care! Now come on!" She stomped her booted foot like the action would scare him into submission to her will.

"Am I such a none threat, that you have no need of a weapon?" His astonishment had officially loosened his tongue.

She narrowed her eyes at him. She showed him her fist. He guessed it was a signal that there was no way that she would lose control of this situation. "This is the only weapon I need," she snapped. _What?_ He stared at her blankly. "I can handle the likes of you without any other!"

If Jin were a person giving to fits of laughter this would be the moment he would be doubled over in his mirth. Since he hadn't been inflicted with that ability he could only stare at her. He was at a loss of how to end this confrontation delicately, when a flash of red caught his eye. He looked just beyond her. Kuma, his grandfather's bodyguard and beloved pet, crept slowly up behind her.

"I may not be much of a challenge, but him . . ." he let his words trail off, his eyes still focused on Kuma.

She snorted, in a most unladylike fashion. "Like I'm stupid enough to fall for that," she scoffed. All the color drained from her face when, what had to be a very wet, nose touched the small of her slender back. A rebel, panicked squeak escaped her lips and then she covertly looked over her shoulder, while also trying to keep him in her sights.

Jin smirked in both amusement and victory over her look of horror but his smirk faltered when Kuma got into his attack stance. She turned slowly and started to back away, never seeing Jin give Kuma a silent warning. Ignoring him—which the annoying bear seemed to do in an alarming number of cases—the huge bear swiped down with one of his mighty paws but she leaped backwards, evading the attack, but causing Jin to fall backwards when she pummeled into him.

Kuma got on all fours, preparing to attack again. He rushed forward but Jin used his foot to block his advance. Cradling the girl's head against his chest, he gave the stupid, rebellious bear a withering glare, which caused Kuma to flee for his life, or at least to pretend to flee for his life. That bear was a weird one.

"H-hey." His voice sounded stupid even to his own ears. He received no answer in return. _You do not have to play dead anymore, _he thought as another rare smile almost forming on his lips but she still lay limp in his arms.

* * *

"You'd fallen for me." Jin's crooked grin was even more annoying than his words.

"Cute," she muttered, cursing the fates for subjecting her to such nonsense.

"So, did you faint from the horror of being attacked by a bear or from your head colliding with mine?"

The answer was both embarrassing scenarios but she knew better than to encourage him. "Does it matter?" she asked. _Why does he think any of this is relevant? _The teasing gleam in his eye gave her her answer. _So, you're mocking me. _

"It is very flattering to believe that you fainted from the overwhelming power of my animal magnetism." Julia sighed and cut off the recorder. "Of course back then . . . I had no animal magnetism. And even if I did . . . I didn't have the ability to make any good use of it."

He had animal magnetism in spades but that was beside the point. "What does this have to do with anything?" she asked calmly.

"Everything," he replied.

"I don't like being mocked." _You of all people should know that. You pushed me over the edge and I showed you that was a big mistake._

"I am not mocking you," he replied. "I call it sparking up conversation with an old friend."

"I didn't ask to do this interview."

"I did not say that you did."

"Would you be adding Julia Chang to your equation if she, I, wasn't doing this interview?" Now he had her referring to herself in the first person.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Cut the recorder back on," he commanded.

"Not until you answer me."

"Didn't they warn you, that you must be nice . . . for he might lose his temper?" he asked. "You could get fired for making me angry. So doing so would not be wise." Not that he was even close to being angry but he thought it prudent to point out.

"I didn't ask to do this in the first place!"

"Someone is still bitter."

"I hate you. . . and so does anyone else with normal brain activity."

"It is kind of hard to love two beings inhabiting one body," he replied. "One is bound to get on your bad side."

"Maybe that were true before you fought Jinpachi," she replied. "But after that . . . there were no two beings anymore. It was just one. Jevil, Jivel, or Jinvel!" If only she'd realized that before she fell for his charms.

"You are complicating things," he decided.

"You were mocking me," she repeated incredulously.

"When?"

"I'm supposed to believe I made an impact on your life?"

"Yes."

"I'm not an idiot. So . . . I know when I'm being fed a line," she replied. "I am the inferior American, remember?"

"I did not have a sex drive until I met you," he replied. "I would say that was a deep impact."

She looked like she wanted to kill him but instead—much to his disappointment—she grabbed all her belongings, stood to her feet, and then rushed to the lead door. She pressed the button to the speaker that connected her to the guards standing on the other side of it. "Let me out of here!"

"Leaving so soon?"

"I refuse to sit here any longer . . . and be insulted by you," she replied heatedly. "I'm going to use every resource I have to get out of this ridiculous contract."

"Because saving the world, from deforestation has to be good for something . . . Right?"_ I alone hold the cards. You will come here until I say you cannot. _"See you tomorrow, Julia-san." Her back stiffening let him know using her first name insulted her.

"Don't count on it." The lead door slid open. She rushed to freedom. The doors closed slowly behind her.

Jin's eyes closed, a smile briefly appearing on his lips. Four and a half years had done her justice. She was prettier and still had the body of a warrior goddess. The most important development of all, her old attitude was resurfacing. The attitude she had when she so fearlessly tried to get her mother back.

Teenage Julia would be trying to kick his impertinent ass right about now. Which he definitely deserved. Julia was one of his many unfortunate victims.

"We, we did her wrong," Jin said sorrowfully, slowly shaking his head in remorse.

"She should have known her place from the start." Devil arrogantly folded his arms.

"Her place was with us."

"I could not allow that."

"It is good I have decided to take over more control now," Jin muttered. Redemption was his key objective.

"I allow you to take more control," Devil corrected.

"We will make certain wrongs right."

"Boring." Devil made a face.

"We have done things your way and look where we have ended up."

"By your will, we are here!"

"By our deeds . . . we are here," Jin replied calmly.

"We'll die of boredom."

"So be it."

"Why did I have to get stuck with a being as twisted as you?" Devil muttered. He was finished with the conversation. Jin knew where he stood on this decision.

If anyone had caught the debate, it would've looked as if Jin was having a conversation with himself, taking on the role of the person he was conversing with mad precision. If they were to look in his eyes during the exchange, they would've seen one of his brown eyes flicker to a pale color.

A startling thought crept in as he got prepared to make tea. _How rude of me, I should have offered the onna a cup. _

_Shut up. _Was Devil's contribution to the new conversation.

* * *

**Edited: **June 26, 2013


	3. Isabella

Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken or the characters within the series. This awesome series and the wonderful characters within it are the property of Namco. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

Journey Inside a Dangerous Mind  
Chapter 3: Isabella  
By: Kadeana

Julia Chang found herself almost cursing the very existence of the universe, itself, as she found herself being escorted back through Jin's tower prison again. Why out of all the people in the world did they come to her to interview him? She detested Jin Kazama because he had used her and he took great pleasure in telling her he had done just that. He had looked at her as if she were dirt beneath his feet and _no_ one could ever understand just how far that humiliation and hurt ran . . . Unless they had been the recipient of such a prestigious award.

Once upon a time, a younger more naive Julia, had fantasized about being the one that would save him. She was quite sure that Ling Xiaoyu, Asuka Kazama, and many others thought that they could save his lost soul from evil. They all had failed to realize one very important fact . . . you could not save someone who did not wish to be saved.

_Oh Spirits, why didn't they give me some other mountain to climb? _Julia thought her hands balling into fists. They, being the government, made her an offer she would not refuse.

Could not refuse . . .

* * *

The dimensional traveling Kazama Jin watched the young Watanabe Taichi spy on Ling Xiaoyu, who was hiding behind a tree spying on the Kazama Jin of this dimension.

Taichi looked tortured and only a fool or a simpleton would not realize that the young ninja cared for Xiao-chan deeply.

"Tai-san." The bumbling ninja lost his footing, falling out of the tree—taking out a few branches along with him, and then landed on the ground quite comically on his butt. Jin knew the skilled ninjutsu master was just fine and that his clumsy persona was just an illusion. "You know, you should tell her the truth about yourself."

Taichi got to his feet with a graceful finesse that directly contradicted the way that he tumbled out of the tree. When his eyes focused on Jin, he almost had a heart attack._ A body snatcher,_ he thought in horror. It was a conclusion that only someone highly skilled in video games would come to.

"You are here to take me away . . . Are you not?" Taichi asked swallowing.

"Wait—What?"

"I beg of you not to take me or Xiaoyu-chan."

"What are you talking about?" Jin muttered. He'd forgotten Tai-san was just as simpleminded—or maybe the right word was gullible—as Xiaoyu, if not more so.

"Body snatching is not cool, under any circumstances."

"I'm not a body snatcher." Jin was trying to remain calm but he almost lost his patience when Tai-san snorted his disbelief. "I'm not."

Taichi's oval-shaped face soon morphed from in expression of distrust into one of seriousness. "You're the real Kazama-san," he decided. "Then that means . . . that he's the impostor." He pointed out the other Jin as his query, getting prepared to protect Xiaoyu-chan with his life.

"He is not an impostor," Jin replied resisting the urge to grit his teeth.

"I knew it." Taichi's brown eyes focused on him again. "It was you all along."

"I am not a body snatcher, you asshole." Apparently Devil had already lost his patience. "And believe me if I wanted to kill you . . . you'd already be dead."

"Then what are you?" Taichi appearance was now one of submissive reserve. Jin was truly impressed with the young ninja's mastery over disguise.

"I just . . . am," he replied, "but you, my young friend . . . or not."

"What does that mean?" Taichi asked suspicious.

"There are two versions of you," Jin replied. "One is slowly dying inside, and the other you that longs for her to reach out her hand to you . . . Because you know that she can save you."

"H-how do you—"

"If she is your only salvation, she should know of her significance in your life," Jin replied.

"All she sees is him, you—whatever," Taichi muttered running his hand through his raven colored chin length hair. "No matter what I do or say . . . that truth will never change."

"Believe me, it can."

"He has her heart imprisoned," Taichi replied. "She will not ever see Taichi."

"He was lost to her when he was shot in the head by his ojii-san. The person she fell in love with died that night and nothing will bring him back. Life isn't a fairytale spell that can be broken and changed into a reality that it is not." _Not by normal humans . . . that is._

"Kazama-san." Taichi looked as if he wanted to give Jin some hopeful inspiration but the thought only amused Jin.

"What about Yoshimitsu-sama?" He could tell that his question caught Taichi by surprise. The kid's expressive eyes widened and he staggered backwards until his back collided with the tree he had fallen out of. "You have all that you need to open her heart to you. You have saved her and always been there when I couldn't. It is you who holds back."

"I don't wish to be second in her life," Taichi replied. "He will always be number one."

"I think Yoshimitsu is pretty high on her list, as well."

Taichi observed him cautiously. "And how would that help me?"

"In so many ways," Jin replied. "Good bye."

"Wait!" Taichi called as the being disappeared into thin air. He swallowed nervously. Only select members of the Manji clan knew his secret—his curse. There was no way anyone outside the clan knew his family legacy.

_Could they?_

He sat down under the tree and waited patiently for Xiaoyu-chan, trying not to think about the awful mistake he'd made. It was a tragedy that caused the death of his comrades and his own beloved father—the Yoshimitsu before him. He started to think of the one person that gave him solace, Ling Xiaoyu.

* * *

This time Jin awakened to Julia lost in thought sitting on his futon. She was adorned in denim jeans and a denim jacket, to combat the cold temperatures. The prison was kept at very cold temperatures, as by his request, because Arizona was hot as hell.

Didn't she realize there was only one reason he would be here? She was a smart onna. If she hadn't figured out the truth, yet, he had no doubts that she would do so very soon. "You're early." His observation startled her from her reverie. He stood to his feet, letting her use the time to recollect her wits.

Julia reply was a sigh that sounded as if the entire world was on her shoulders. "Can we just get started, so I can leave as soon as possible?" He glanced down at his watch and if the time was correct, she had to be sitting there waiting for over thirty minutes.

"Would you like a beverage . . . tea perhaps?"

"Arigatoo, but brought my own beverage." A water bottle sat on the small table next to her tape recorder and notebook.

"I suppose you are wondering why I zone out the way I do?" He hoped that 'zone out' was the right phrase to use. His grasp on American slang was still kind of shaky. She looked up at him as he made his way closer to her. He was attired in a panda outfit and he knew that he had to look absolutely ridiculous. Black pants with a panda painted on the left leg and a black and white sweatshirt. A panda was decorated on back of the sweatshirt; a hideous gift from Xiaoyu that he wore with honor. If Julia, too, thought he looked ridiculous she didn't say so aloud.

He sat opposite her on the cushion on the floor, the small table being the only obstacle between them. "Yes, I am, actually." She reached over to start the recorder. "Why make yourself so vulnerable to others?"

"I have the ability to cross dimensions," he replied. "I use this ability to right situations that went wrong." _Wrongs that I wrought._

"What wrongs?" She had the nerve to ask him that with a straight face.

"Did you know that the third dimension is five years behind our own?" he asked. She shook her head no. "The very first thing I did was knockout the Jin Kazama of that world. Then I destroyed Jinpachi for him."

"Why would you do that?" She asked her brown eyes wide in surprise.

"I am strong enough to defeat Jinpachi. Jin Kazama never was and never will be."

"But . . . you are Jin Kazama," she replied for benefit of the recorder.

"I am Jin . . . Yes I am," he replied with a nod. "But, you know from personal experiences . . . that I am something else . . . also."

"Devil."

"Yes, making me the perfect yin and yang specimen," he declared. "The Kazama blood was just a strong of a pull as the Devil gene."

"And . . . in theory . . . you were the perfect warrior to defeat that essence of evil called Jinpachi," Julia stated. He nodded his head once in affirmative.

"To defeat the Jinpachi of this dimension, I completely embraced my evil side. And I assumed that the Kazama blood was my trump card to turn me back into my former self." He smiled eerily. "But, as always in my life, lady fate turned her back on me. So when Jinpachi died, his dark energy attracted to Devil's energy like a sponge. The evil became stronger than the Kazama blood . . . much stronger."

"You still had your freewill, Kazama-san. Why didn't you fight it?" This was a question she had wanted to ask for years and unknowingly leaned forward in her anxiousness to hear his reply.

"Jin Kazama was tired of being the world's ass." Jin's voice took on a high pitch. "Saving the world again, only to be screwed . . . again." A weird half cackle escaped his lips as his left eye started to flicker a pale color. "There's only so much an already lost soul could take. So we decided not to give a damn anymore," he said solemnly. "We decided to be vindictive; to murder; to destroy"—he looked thoughtful—"but as always, I'm getting ahead of my story." He smiled softly, his flickering pale eye and the smoldering brown one, hidden behind his eyelids as he closed them.

Julia sat back, swallowing nervously. She was briefly in his presence. The one that Jin allowed to—no, allowed wasn't the right word—the one Jin allied himself with to destroy so many. Devil's presence had a way of bringing fear in the most courageous of warriors. When Jin and Devil were one, she was a lot braver. If he had not killed her back in his evil prime . . . odds were in her favor that he would not do so now.

Devil, she did not trust. She wouldn't be surprised if he was planning a mutiny from Jin, if it was possible for him to do so.

"You want to get back to your lovely Julia tale now, right?" she asked.

"Yes, and I humbly ask to not to be disturbed," he said.

"You won't be disturbed," she mumbled.

* * *

Julia regained consciousness some time later. Vague memories of gentle hands administering some kind of warm ornament to her thigh surfaced but she quickly brushed them aside. She did a quick sweep of the room with her eyes, accessing her situation.

Her hands were not bound. She wasn't outside but in a hut made of huge leaves and branches. She wasn't alone. Kazama Jin, the man she obviously failed at capturing, sat with his back to her doing something she couldn't see.

She sat up slowly. Her left thigh was slightly stinging but she was too centered on him to concentrate on it. "Where am I?" she asked suspiciously.

"Safe." He looked back over his shoulder briefly, but then he continued to put his homemade salve back in his gym bag. The hut was a home away from home for him. Kazama Jun, his mother, taught him how to build such structures.

"How did you get away from that stupid bear?" she asked still suspicious. Furthermore, why didn't he let the thing finish her off?

_Stupid bear, _he thought amused. "Played dead."

"You would." She didn't attempt to keep the bitterness out of her voice. He glanced back at her again and then continued putting his things away as if she had just not insulted him. Did anything get to him?

"I cleaned your wound."

"You what?" She asked her face heating. _Oh Spirits, how could this get any worse?_

"I am confident that you will not catch an infection." Jin continued on choosing to ignore her tone which annoyed her to no end.

"He barely scratched me," she explained, her aghast on display to his back. "You had no right, you . . . you pervert!"

He'd been called many things in his life ranging from bastard, mute, dumbass—all Hwoarang specials—but pervert was a new one. He felt his face heat in embarrassment. "I-I am not—"

"For some reason, I'm not surprised you are a pervert."

_I am not a pervert! _"Such disrespect," he muttered, "and I used my precious time and medicine to patch your wound."

"It wasn't necessary." She managed to grind this out between her teeth.

He _finally_ turned to face her. "Really?"

"I could've done it myself."

"A simple thank you would suffice," he said folding his arms.

"Why are you being nice?" she demanded suspiciously.

_What would Hwoarang do in this situation?_ He thought as he studied his pretty adversary. He decided that Hwoarang would say the most obnoxious thing possible and deal with the lethal consequences with an amused smirk_. _Jin was curious about why she was living on their lands . . . and why she was so angry with him and his ojii-san. It might be work better if he also applied all of the skills he learned from his ojii-san over the years.

_Project Hwoarang . . . _"Define nice?" he requested, "I just enjoy helping strays." She bristled over his insult. _Never let the opponent keep the upper hand. Even if they have it, do everything within your power to gain it._

She jumped to her feet forgetting the sting of her leg. "Call me that again . . . and I swear I'll kick your butt!"

_Be Hwoarang . . ._ "I should think that title fits you quite naturally," he replied. "You are living, uninvited on Mishima lands." He watched the look of surprised panic flicker in her honey browns. Revealing that he stumbled on her campsite by surprise would not do anything to let him keep the upper hand in this confrontation. _Never give your opponent in edge. Keep them guessing your true intent._

It was over. She'd been found out. Julia imagined all Heihachi's henchmen outside the hut ready to strike. Well, those jerks would have a fight on their hands. "How come I'm not dead?" she asked bluntly. Her eyes were now burning bright with determination.

"No one knows you are here but me," Jin replied. That look in her eyes did not bode well for him.

_And when I knock you silly, you won't remember a thing,_ Julia thought with a deceptive smile. Or at least he would be out of it long enough for her to get her gear in split."Why is that?" she asked, waiting for her chance to strike.

"I do not need the help of my Ojii-san to take care of a little girl." The fury on her cute face was almost comical. If looks could kill he was quite certain he would be dead and then proclaimed a zombie.

"I am not a little girl," she said, eyes narrowed. She was seconds from putting him in a chokehold.

"Our roles are now reversed," Jin said, mimicking one of Ojii-san's best smirks. "You are now my prisoner."

"You'll have to defeat me first, you pervert!" _Please do not call me that,_ Jin thought his face heating again, momentarily losing his train of thought. "Any gentleman worth his salt never would have touched me there."

"Really?"

"Not without permission."

"Even if you were unconscious and wounded?"

"It was just a scratch," Julia declared. "I swear you Mishimas are bad to the core."

_Project Hwoarang . . . that baka. _"If I were the type to inappropriately touch girls, I would've done so yesterday. You know? When you were swimming in the lake," he chided her. "You were so much more desirable then. Now . . . I'm seriously debating whether or not to tape your mouth shut." _Never let your opponent sense weakness._ He decided that the word pervert—being used in reference of him—would now be on that weakness list.

"Do it, and die!" She toted her nose in the air determined not to give him the satisfaction of knowing he'd rattled her.

"You looked so stunning rising from that lake like some long lost goddess," he croaked futilely fighting a blush. He'd averted his gaze after realizing she was not only real but also naked. _So much for not letting your opponent sense weakness . . ._

Saying what he thought Hwoarang would say was not as easy as he first anticipated. How could one person have so much nerve? Actually the girl before him now rivaled that type of nerve.

"I was right . . . you're a pervert," she whispered. Although, the interesting information was, that for such big words, the young Mishima blushed much of the conversation, fled from her mind. She didn't understand the purpose of him saying such things._ He saw me naked . . . Oh Spirits, can this confrontation get any worse for me?_ Her face heated in an embarrassment that she didn't want to even try to understand and she hoped that he wouldn't comment on that embarrassment but with the way his mind seemed to work—or not work—she felt that her hopes would soon be dashed.

_That word again,_ Jin thought inwardly cringing. _I was raised to respect women. _The pervert in the room was the invisible Hwoarang. "Not so much a p-pervert," he said closing his eyes to hide his humiliation. "I admire all beautiful creatures of nature."

In Julia's point-of-view, him closing his eyes appeared vindictive, coupled with that stupid, dumbass smirk. "Look, you freak, I don't know what kind of weirdo scam you have going on here, but I'm not listening to any more of it," she said trying desperately to regain the upper hand. "I'm leaving."

"You might as well stay here." She snorted over his ludicrous offer. "I mean, at least you will have shelter from the elements."

"Oh yeah, that is a great idea. Stay here . . . so when I let my guard down you send in your henchmen to make me disappear," she said angrily.

"You have my word that you won't be harmed."

"And my mother had Heihachi Mishima's word that he'd help her. And she's never been seen again," Julia said calmly. "Believing anything you say . . . will make a fool out of me." He hid the shock of her words, quite well. He looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "I'm, leaving," she repeated seriously.

"Entering the King of the Iron Fist Tournament with so much anger in your heart . . . will only get you killed."

"And not minding your own business . . . will surely get your ass kicked!" She rushed to the entrance, which consisted of two leaves and a few branches. She kicked it out of her way and rushed off. The small Tsunami known as Julia Chang disappeared among the trees.

It was official; the only other person he knew that feisty was Hwoarang.

Julia Chang. Jin had found out her name when he found her license and passport among her gear at her campsite. He had also found an announcement for the King of the Iron Fist Tournament. She was there for the tournament but she also was there to settle a score with him and his ojii-san.

Why had he been inducted into her personal vendetta with his ojii-san? He had to admit that the confrontation that he had just had with her did not help his situation. _This . . . will turn out to be horrible._

* * *

He could tell that his smirk put her on weary guard. "Who knew that sweet little darling would turn out like you."

"She grew up."

"And she obviously took some anger management classes," he said.

"Are you finished with your rather moving story about me and you?" Sarcasm dripped from Julia's whispered words.

"I've only just begun."

"Will you tell me why you think any time you spent with me is worth mentioning in this interview?"

"If you have to ask me that, then why should I bother?"

"You've told me before that you did not love me," Julia reminded him. "That I was beneath you and nothing more than a challenge."

"You hurt my ego," Jin said. "I only repaid the favor."

"Repaid the favor . . . ."

_Well, that was the wrong thing to say, _Jin thought as her fist connected with his nose. He could have blocked her punch but knew he deserved it. It would take more than a punch from a mortal to draw blood from him, anyway. The problem with being immortal was that he still felt pain.

"I hurt your ego?" she asked loudly. "You are the one who asked me to be your mistress after what I thought was a great and equal relationship."

"Well, I had a wife."

"Something you neglected to mention," Julia muttered.

"I had to marry her," he pointed out. "It was a business deal."

"No you didn't," she snapped. "And even if you did you would've never married the 'Inferior American.' "

"You are still stuck on that?" he asked sadly.

"Your actions after that, I will never forget or forgive," Julia said icily. "I am only here to do this stupid biography interview thing. And when this is over I'll never think of you again."

"I didn't anticipate that things would turn out the way that they did," he muttered. "If I did, I never would have—"

"Stop it and get on with the events of the third King of the Iron Fist Tournament," she requested her eyes gleaming with tears.

"What do they have on you to make you come back here?" He really wanted to know. He didn't get a chance to manipulate the situation to where she had to come back on his terms. He had wanted to give her a few days to simmer down. The government had given her terms of their own and she had caved. Of course, he could easily get the information from them but he wanted to hear the answer from her.

"Isabella," she replied honestly, with eyes closed. His own eyes widened in shock. "Can we continue?"

"Yes," he replied softly. He wanted to know more but it was obvious she wasn't saying anything more . . . yet. _Isabella, she's dead . . . isn't she?_

* * *

**_Edited: _**June 29, 2013


	4. Lost

Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken or the characters within the series. This awesome series and the wonderful characters within it are the property of Namco. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

Journey Inside a Dangerous Mind  
Chapter 4: Lost  
By: Kadeana

"Could you wait a sec before we start again?" Julia Chang requested like she wasn't the one who requested to continue on with the interview in the first place. "I have to erase our little discussion." She pressed the rewind button on her small recorder.

"Go ahead, but you know that's some good stuff," Jin Kazama declared. "When they make a movie out of my life . . . that argument will be greatly needed for our Academy Awards hopes."

"Oh, hush." Like they would make a movie out of his train wreck of a life! Hollywood would be too skittish of inadvertently making him angry—something that Hollywood excelled at making people feel. After she erased their argument, her cell phone started to ring. "I have to answer that."

"Go ahead."

He began to breathe deeply. He centered his mind on Xiaoyu-chan. The Xiaoyu-chan in his dimension led the Manji clan, a task given to her by her long dead friend, Yoshimitsu. She was training the younger fighters of her clan. He used her mind as a portal to jump to the third dimension. Using her mind sent him straight to the younger Xiaoyu-chan's location.

* * *

"Well, well . . . if it isn't Chicken Little and her bitchy sidekick, Crow Legs!" Ling Xiaoyu and Kazama Asuka stopped mid-step, knowing the identity of the person behind them without even bothering to look. It could be no one but, Hwoarang . . . the red headed plague of their existence.

"Just keep walking," Xiaoyu commanded. She knew Asuka-chan could turn around with fist swinging, at in second—which was exactly what Hwoarang wanted.

"Going to a toddler's convention?" She could hear the smugness Hwoarang's tone and observed Asuka's hands tightened into fists.

"I am this close," Asuka muttered, her temper hanging on by a thread.

"Oh, I'm scared." Hwoarang was in rare form. "I think I'll go hide behind your daycare teachers." Asuka turned around with fists flying. He of course caught both. Xiaoyu watched them both, wearily. She knew better than to get caught in the middle of them.

"I hate you!" Asuka snapped, thinking nothing about how she was in his personal space yelling like a deranged person and he was staring down at her in wicked calm amusement.

"There's a reason little girls never make it to the finals," he declared. "There is no way you can stand up to real men."

"When I see a real man, which I saw none in the tournament, I'll ask him about that," Asuka snapped.

"Cute," he released her and started to stroll passed them as if he had not just provoked them at all, "but I have to go. I have a real opponent to find, Kazama Jin. The freak show still owes me a match." He raised him arm as if waving goodbye as he got farther and farther away from them.

"Asuka-chan, you should really learn to control your temper," Xiaoyu declared.

"Just wait! I am going to beat the living crap out of that red headed Muppet!" She raced after Hwoarang.

Xiaoyu closed her eyes just after Asuka sailed through the air and kneed the unsuspecting Hwoarang in the back of the head. She believed Hwoarang was now second on Asuka's hit list and if he kept it up, he would make first place. Both rebels disappeared as they rolled down the other side of the hill. Hwoarang would have his hands full blocking Asuka's fists and elbows on the way down.

Jin watched the display shaking his head. Those two would never learn a damn thing about controlling their tempers. "Where's Taichi?"

_Jin, _she thought eyes shining. "Konnichi-wa!" She turned toward him smiling but her smile faltered when she saw his attire. Jin was wearing the exact replica of the outfit she was knitting for him and she had created the design for that outfit with Panda as her motivation. "Hey, where did you get that outfit?"

"You made it for me." He smiled down at his dearest friend. She had his back from the moment they met. He also knew she had strong feelings for him that went much deeper than friendship.

"What? How could that be?" Shock was written across her face. "I've only just designed it. And, I don't even have a whole pants leg finished, yet."

"Did Taichi-san mention meeting a body snatcher?" he asked calmly.

"Yes, and it scared him. And it scared me when he told me." She looked completely freaked. "Don't tell me that there is another me out there . . . taking all my great ideas."

"That was me that Taichi-san saw . . . but I'm no body-snatcher," he said quickly before she could panic. He learned his lesson for the annoying experience with Taichi.

"What are you?" she asked with caution.

"I am your most loyal friend, but I'm from another dimension," he said honestly. "I wore this outfit so that you would believe me."

Her caution swiftly turned into joy and she embraced him in a quick hug. "You look great," she said happily, "exactly the same." Xiaoyu-chan was such a sweet, happy soul. Nothing flustered her long but that trait of hers would change if he did not get her to believe him.

"I've . . . come here to warn you," he said quietly.

"About what?" she asked spellbound.

"I know of many things . . . that have not been revealed to you yet, Xiao-chan," he said honestly. "I . . . have some very bad news."

"What's happened?" she asked tragically.

"Taichi-san . . . is a very troubled young man," he said. "To you, Xiao-chan, he only shows a certain side of himself."

"Troubled," she repeated flustered, "but he seems so happy."

"He is a master of disguising his feelings," Jin replied honestly. "It is true that you, with your innocent outlook on life, make life easier for him." Y_ou make life easier on everyone around you._

"What troubles him, Jin-san?" she asked solemnly. "I will do what I can to help him." Ever since she moved in with the Manji-clan, Taichi-san had been her constant companion when Yoshimitsu-sama wasn't around. Tai-kun was her friend and she was the type to try and turn back the hand of time, itself, to help one of her precious ones.

"He feels guilty for the death of his father and comrades." Jin sat down in the grass and she knelt beside him. "The guilt is a festering wound that refuses to heal. I tried to help him earlier . . . but I fear that I have only made the situation worse."

"Why should he feel guilty?" Xiaoyu asked confused. "Bryan Fury is to blame and him alone." She sighed. "Yoshi-sama and I tried to help him. He repaid us with betrayal." She looked sad. "If it's anyone's fault, it is my own. I am the one who begged Yoshimitsu-sama to take him with us."

"Do you not understand, Xiao-chan?" Jin asked. "There is a reason why you never see Tai-kun and Yoshi-sama together."

"What is it?" she asked innocently.

"Your Tai-kun and your Yoshi-sama . . . are the same being."

"But that-that isn't possible." Xiaoyu's frown was evidence of her confusion. "Yoshi-sama is like . . . old, and Tai-san is my age. There are stories about Yoshi-sama in scrolls that are years older than us."

"Yoshimitsu is a title, not a real person," Jin said patiently. "Once many years ago . . . a young man helped a being from another world, when his ship crash landed here on Earth. In thanks, the creature gave him his armor and his sword in return for his kindness. This young man was of the Manji-Clan. His family name, Wantanabe."

Xiaoyu sat listening totally enraptured. Things were slowly becoming clear to her.

"He used those gifts given to him, from the being . . . to bring the Manji-clan to the powerful group of families that it is today. But, the years passed, and he became too old to carry on the Yoshimitsu title. He then passed it on to his son, and his son past the gifts on to Taichi . . . his youngest son."

_Oh no! _Xiaoyu thought in horror. Her brown eyes, shone with tears. "No." Jin reached forward and clasped her hands. His gesture surprised her out of her stunned grief and she could only stare at the huge hands that engulfed her own hands in wander. The Jin she knew never would've made physical contact with her in this way. "Jin-san, why didn't he tell me?"

"He didn't want his dearest friend to worry about him," Jin replied. "I made the decision to tell you . . . because I am, also, your friend. And I am from the future of my dimension . . . so I know how this situation ends."

"Future," repeated in a whisper.

"Taichi isn't in my future," Jin said quietly. "His honor could not allow him to go on. But the name Yoshimitsu still lives on, though." _And you wear it proudly, Xiaoyu-chan._

"What do you mean?" she asked terrified.

"As we speak . . . your friend is preparing to take his own life," Jin said bluntly. "His embarrassing defeat at Bryan's hands . . . in the previous tournament . . . weighs heavily upon his heart."

"Bryan is monster!" Xiaoyu exclaimed. "Why would he repay kindness with hatred?"

"Taichi-san doesn't see that his future can be bright," Jin said. "He will eventually defeat Bryan if he stops fearing him."

"I will talk to him." Xiaoyu's small hands balled into determined fists underneath his. "I'll make him see that he has so much to live for."

"You don't have much time, Xiaoyu-chan," Jin said urgently. "Go, find him now! He will listen to you. But you have to get to him in time." He retracted his hands.

"Do you know where he is?" she asked standing. She looked down at him in determination.

"The Temple of Light."

"Will I see you again?"

"Yes."

"You look great in that outfit," she said. "I knew that you would." She winked. "See you later, Jin-san . . . From the future of another dimension."

"See you later, Xiao-chan . . . From the present of another dimension." He watched her run down the hill. He hoped she made it in time.

The Xiao-chan, of his dimension, was never the same after she found her friend dead.

* * *

Julia was still on the phone as he came to from his meditative state. It was unnerving to have his eyes on her as she tried to concentrate on something else. She gave up trying and ended the call.

"Sorry," she said slipping the phone back in its holster on her waist.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"No one that concerns you," she said quickly. "Besides, it's not like you care."

"True, but I was being polite." He smirked. It was the same smirk that got on her nerves so much when they first met.

She turned on the recorder, trying to ignore the smirk from hell. "When did you meet Julia Chang again?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"In the finals of the Tekken Tournament," he replied. "Our match would determine who would face Paul Phoenix."

"She lost to you?"

"In so many ways."

_Stop it. _"How did you feel about that?" She asked.

"I felt bad for her," he replied. "She'd come all that way, in search of her mother, ultimately to fail." He looked at her through his bangs. "My sense of revenge was stronger than hers."

"And you, the boy wonder," her eyes shone with tears that would never fall, "made a vow that you ultimately failed to keep."

"You didn't take my vow seriously," he reminded her honestly. "Well, I didn't think you did." _I didn't even think you heard me._

"She . . . I ignorantly believed you," she replied. "That was the first time . . . and should have been the only time."

"I did what I could."

"It wasn't enough."

"Jin was defeated by Paul Phoenix." He frowned in deep displeasure over the direction the conversation had taken. "Paul fought Toshin . . . and then came back from that fight, bragging about how easy it was to defeat him. Jin didn't believe him so he went in search of the creature. Michelle had stumbled across him before I could get there. He had used her life energy to change into his true form. You can't, in good conscience, blame me for that." He'd alternated from talking about Jin as a separate entity and as himself.

This was the first time Julia had heard any of this. All she got was a cryptic email, telling her her mother was dead. For him to reveal it this way, during an interview, was infuriating and hurtful. She pressed pause on the recorder.

"She would not have been there to begin with, if you and your despicable grandfather had left her alone!"

"She had an artifact that he wanted . . . and she would not give it to him," he said calmly. "I had nothing to do with that."

"She didn't have it anymore," Julia said angrily. "There was no reason to hold her hostage." She visibly shook with anger. "You were your father's son then . . . and now!"

"Don't compare him to me!" Jin snapped standing to his full height. "He was not fit to breath the same air as I. Neither was his father. I proved that when I killed them both with little . . . or no effort."

"You should be so proud."

If one could categorize making Jin angry, it would be labeled under the words bold or stupid. Julia was a very wise woman but bold to a fault. It was a trait he found endearing in her. He gazed down at her, his anger evaporating into amusement. "You excel in trying my patience," he said in wonder.

"Did you blame her? Did you let it happen?"

"No, Julia-san," he said amused. "You know the original Kazama-san. He never would have wished for your mother to share the same fate that his own okaa-san did. Even if he somehow gained the knowledge that . . . she eliminated the only item that could kill Toshin. It was an action that resulted in the death of his precious okaa-san."

"How could she have known that all this evil would happen as a result?"

"Pose that question in my case . . . and for what I've become," he requested. "I did not ask for this."

"No, but you embraced it," she whispered.

"Turn on your recorder, Chang-san," he requested gently. "We have much ground to cover."

* * *

Jin Kazama entered the part of the massive Mayan Temple that had been sectioned off and now served as a ring for the tournament with carefully hidden trepidation. _Can this little hellion even fight?_ He wondered as Julia Chang fiddled with her right boot. If her confrontation with Kuma was his example to go by, then he would have to vote, no.

Julia sensed his annoying presence and then sprung upwards into a defensive stance. When he lazily ran a hand through his hair, she wanted to kick him into another solar system. _I'm no push over, you jerk._ She felt a little better when he got into a defensive stance.

"Fight!" The announcer called.

Jin found himself blocking Julia's powerful elbows. _Impressive,_ he thought. He had no time to ponder the strength and speed of the girl because it would distract him and cost him the match. When her powerful elbow combo ended, he launched a powerful right hook of his own but she blocked it easily. As quick as lightning, he launched off a powerful left hook. She blocked it as well. He unleashed a powerful punch to her abdomen. She crossed her arms blocking the onslaught with the appendages.

She felt her feet leaving the ground from the ferocity of his attack. She landed on her butt several yards off. _Now, that one hurt, _she thought. She gave herself no time to give into her pain as she sprang back to her feet.

So this was the awesome power that was a Mishima.

She rushed toward him and when she got close enough, she tried to take him down with a roundhouse kick, but he ducked under her leg. Then she slightly bent her knee coming around again with a kick. Her booted foot smashed into his shoulder. She then bent lower spinning in the other direction, sweep kicking his legs out from under him. It was Jin's turn to fall on the hard stone floor.

Julia got back in her stance, waiting for him to get to his feet, but she didn't have to wait for very long. He recovered quickly, standing to his feet, and studying her with narrowed eyes. But he approached, in her opinion, like someone who was just taken a stroll in the park and not like he'd just been bested by her.

Jin aimed a punch at her head but she grabbed his fist stopping said onslaught, mere inches from her face. As quick as a lightning strike, he turned his back on her, his intent to knock her out with the back of his right fist but she caught that one, as well.

But before she could raise her leg to kick him. He pulled upward, with all his might and Julia found herself being lifted off the ground as if she weighed nothing at all. She let go of his fists. As she made the journey downwards, she double kicked him in the small of his back. Using the momentum she gained from her attack, she flipped backwards into a back handstand, landing on her feet with ease.

Jin stumbled forward but stopped himself from falling on his face by tucking into a tight frontward flip, landing on his now steady feet. _Those boots . . . must die, _he thought bitterly.

He turned quickly, just as she charged forward. She stopped about a foot from him. She raised her arm and came down with a powerful elbow aimed at his chest.

He slapped her arm off course, causing her to go into a spin. He spent once gaining momentum and then kicked her on her side, but at the same time, she came around with a hard fist which slammed into his jaw.

From the force of Jin's kick, Julia's feet left the ground and she landed on her left side—seeing stars—several feet away from where she had been originally standing. Both of her sides and her arms were throbbing. _What is this guy made of?_ _Diamonds?_

Jin stood his ground but tasted the coppery taste of his blood from her well-aimed punch. He hoped none of his teeth had been loosened. She was, almost, unnaturally strong but that strength wasn't enough. _You cannot beat me,_ he thought. _So stay down._

She, of course, stood up. It wasn't like she could hear his words and even if he had said them aloud, the result would be the same.

She stood her ground as he calmly stalked her. _He knows, I'm hurt,_ she thought trying not to favor her right side—the side where he kicked her—but she knew she was failing miserably at it. _This match isn't over, Mishima brat!_

She raised her leg as if to kick him and so he, naturally, ducked but she aborted the move and quickly thrust forward with both fists. She hit him square in the chest, flipping him backwards through the air and then he landed hard on his stomach. She then jumped high in the air to land on his back, hopefully finishing the match.

Jin rolled to the side, in the nick of time, so her booted feet landed on the hard stone floor and not him. He was quite sure the ground shook from the ferocity of her attack. He stuck his arm out and pulled her down with him.

His hand cushioned her butt and all the force of her body from the fall. She shrieked, getting up as quickly as possible. "Pervert!" Her aches and pains momentarily forgotten; replaced with thoughts of committing his murder and could she get away with said murder by pleading temporary insanity.

Jin stood with his hand throbbing with pain. His chest wasn't feeling too great either but being called a pervert took precedence over everything. _I am not a pervert! _His abused hand had been at the wrong place at the wrong time.

He launched into one of his combos taught to him by his mother in which consisted of many gracefully powerful punches and kicks. She blocked every move save one because she was so busy concentrating on her hurt side, she left the other vulnerable and so he landed a well-placed kick on that side.

Julia lost her footing and fell to the hard stone floor, on her injured side—well both sides were officially injured now. "Ow." The whispered words escaped her lips.

_Stay down, _he mentally urged her. _And . . . she's up again._ Her eyes were glazed over in pain but her stance was still strong as if she was in perfect health. She launched into a fury of punches of her own, ending the onslaught with a powerful uppercut, catching him under the chin with it.

Jin flew through the air and landed on his back. _Where did that surge of power come from? _he thought in astonishment. He, unsteadily, got to his feet. The look of surprised shock that lit her face was not lost on him. _If I were normal, I am sure that move would have finished me, _he thought. _I am not normal. I am a Mishima. You cannot defeat me._

He defeated her quickly after that. Julia tried to get up after the ten count but failed in that task, getting up only mere seconds after it. When she realized she'd lost, she fell to her knees, covering her face with her hands in shame.

"I will find your mother and send her home to you." She looked through her fingers at him. Did she actually hear him say that?It was barely above a whisper. Maybe she imagined it. He looked like he had said nothing at all.

* * *

"We stop there," Jin decided suddenly.

"Why?" she whispered. This topic still was very painful for her but he just sat there, looking the picture of absolute calm, as if they'd been discussing the weather or the type of tea that he liked the most.

"I have other people to discuss from the cast of weirdness that made up the third tournament."

"Yeah, you had the pressing urgency of telling about my past," she said dryly. He smirked in amusement.

"I have not thought of Hwoarang in a long while," he said seriously.

"One of your many victims?" she asked, trying to mask her interest. She always wondered what happened to Hwoarang.

The ignorant redhead went missing years ago. Some thought he went back to his old life on the streets, but after tournament after tournament, he failed to make an appearance; people, who knew him, realized that sinister forces were at hand.

"My first victim," he replied. "The fool thought himself my equal." He laughed evilly. "What a character he was."

"What did you do to him?" she asked softly.

"The question is not what I did to him," he said. "The question is, sweet onna, what did I make him do to himself." Their eyes met. Julia found herself swallowing in nervousness. She wondered if she would be able to bare hearing all Jin had to say about his past deeds and the devious joy that retelling it seemed to bring him.

* * *

**Edited:** July 2, 2013


	5. Untitled

Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken or the characters within the series. This awesome series and the wonderful characters within it are the property of Namco. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

Journey Inside a Dangerous Mind  
Chapter 5: Untitled  
By: Kadeana

"I met Hwoarang during a common street fight," Jin Kazama revealed. "He was a very arrogant young soul, and so I felt the urge to humble him . . . a little." He had noticed the street fight from the safety of his Grandfather's limousine. Something, curiosity perhaps, propelled him to exit the limo to approach the crude tournament.

A young redheaded, arrogant, warrior, stood out amongst the rest, defeating all his opponents with little or no effort on his part. His cheeky attitude and incredible mastery of Taekwondo propelled Jin to step forward to be the young man's next opponent when no one else was brave enough to do so. The 'charming' guy's name was Hwoarang and he preceded to make hostile comments about Jin's school uniform, posture, hairstyle, accent, and pretty much anything he could think of—which was very many things to Jin's embarrassment.

He had no idea why Hwoarang felt the need to use verbal welfare, because he could win his matches, easily, without such nonsense.

"Because there could be only one arrogant one," Julia Chang said dramatically, always one to mock the rivalry the two guys had, and—true to form—Jin gazed at her as if she sprouted another head. He had never admitted before, to her, that Hwoarang brought out another side—a special personality trait that Hwoarang used, successfully, on everyone—to his personality that he didn't even know he had.

Even Julia disliked Hwoarang and she tried her best not to judge anyone—anyone who wasn't a traitorous Mishima . . . that is. He went out of his way to make fun of the female participates of The third King of the Iron Fist Tournament and if she hadn't been so focused on finding her mother she would have tried her very best to strangle him to death.

Why he had to be so ridiculous, when he had so much skill as a fighter . . . she had no idea.

"Much to the intrigue of both me and Hwoarang . . . our match ended in a draw," Jin said. "Meaning . . . that there was no satisfying conclusion to it. Hwoarang was determined to prove his superiority in the third tournament."

"And the fourth one . . . fifth one . . . and the sixth one." Jin couldn't help but smirk over her comment.

"I, on the other hand, only wanted to use the tournament as a device to draw Toshin out," Jin explained. "Hwoarang's obsession to be the best came as a surprise to me. It was a very welcome surprise that started to make me look outside the narrow existence that I had created for myself."

"The narrow existence being . . . only living for the single purpose of avenging your mother," Julia prompted.

"Yes," he replied nodding. "I had created a rivalry with this weird guy. And I had landed myself on the hit list of the _sweetest_ American this side of Arizona. What a difference a tournament makes in one's life."

_Speaking of Arizona . . . what are you doing here, Kazama-san?_ she thought. _Of all the places to build your prison, why build it here? And of all the qualified journalists living here . . . why was I chosen to interview you? _Julia vowed to get the bottom of his new scheme but she knew that she had to go about her investigation the right way. If there were a chance that Isabella was still alive . . . she would not risk losing the chance to be reunited with her.

And if brown eyes over there had anything at all to do with all this, and she had no doubt that he did, she didn't want him to know that she suspected him. But the way he was looking at her now, with those knowing eyes, made her think he was reading her thoughts.

She had to keep his mind on this interview and away from her own schemes. "And what of Yoshimitsu-san . . . and Ling Xiaoyu?"

"Yoshimitsu-sensei served as my conscious in the third tournament."

"Why do you call him teacher?" Julia asked.

"He would show up in weird places to give me words of advice and caution."

"Caution?"

"He warned me that allying myself with the Mishimas for revenge . . . would only cause me bad karma."

"Two wrongs not making a right?"

"Exactly," he replied. "He called himself trying to save my soul, but I did not listen to him."

"I could've told you that," she declared.

"You were too busy judging me because of the Mishima price tag you labeled me with."

"And as it turns out, I was right to do so," she pointed out. "Mishima Heihachi became worse than Mishima Jinpachi. Mishima Kazuya turned out worse than Mishima Heihachi. And you, Kazama-san . . . decided to be an over achiever . . . and surpassed them all."

They silently observed each other and for a brief moment she thought that she glimpsed a spark of anger in his eyes, but a quiet laugh—that escaped his lips—ruined the effect. "The Julia of old is returning," he said. "I cannot stress enough how much that fact pleases me."

"And it pleased me . . . when your vocabulary mostly consisted of . . . duh," she replied. That phase was during the fourth and fifth tournament. Only after the fifth tournament that things slowly started to change.

"We were discussing Yoshimitsu-sensei," he reminded her, his lips slightly upturned.

"Right." Julia was starting to think he was going out of his way to be annoying. "Why didn't you listen to him?"

"I wanted Toshin," Jin replied honestly. "I wanted to avenge my mother. I wanted the respect of my grandfather. I wanted so little . . . yet it cost so much."

"You should have let someone, anyone, help you," she replied. "Maybe then, not only you . . . but Michelle would've been saved, too."

"Everything always comes back to Michelle." He didn't even try to keep the bitterness out of his voice. He disliked the phantom that was so much a thorn in their side. After her death, Michelle Chang pretty much became a way of life for Julia.

"What do you expect, Kazama-san?" she asked. "After you discovered my mother in his hands . . . why didn't warning bells go off in your head . . . about the mental state of your horrible grandfather?"

"It is not your place to talk down on him," he said calmly. "Mine either, for that matter. We both are no count bastards . . . remember?" He smirked as if he had not just insulted himself along with her.

"Don't say that."

"But it is true," he replied. "I have one up on you though. I know who my parents were. You do not have a clue about yours."

"Michelle was the only parent I care about."

"To think, Julia-san, your birth parents thought so little of you . . . that they left you to die in an old temple."

"How on earth would you know what they were thinking?"

"I cannot stay on my high horse, though," he replied. "If my dear mother was not such a pure soul . . . she probably would have abandoned me in an old temple. Because, I would have abandoned me in an old temple. You, obviously, would have been stupid enough to keep me and yourself."

"You are enjoying this absurd conversation," she muttered. That was not a question, because he had said that he enjoyed how she was snapping at him. It reminded him of the immature teenager she used to be. She would not let him gleefully drag her down to that level!

"I sometimes ponder who the better bastard is," he replied. "I think that Isabella would win that competition . . . If she is still alive." Jin believed that the bastard of two bastards had to be some kind of special achievement.

"How dare you!"

"I have my rights," he replied. "She's half mine."

Julia took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and then silently counted to ten. Jin had a knack for insulting people. Why he decided it was insult Julia day—just because she spoke the truth about Mishima Heihachi—was a mystery to her. Maybe he was bored with the interview and wanted to entertain himself at her expense, or maybe, he still has some displaced loyalty to the man.

"We were talking about Hwoarang and Yoshimitsu-san," she said softly.

"I did not get a chance to have a rematch against Hwoarang in the first tournament," he said conceding to her wishes. "He lost to Lei Wulong, but that didn't stop him from being a thorn in my side."

* * *

At the Mishima Hacienda, Heihachi Mishima held an elaborate banquet in honor of all the men, women, animals, machines, and other beings of unknown origin . . . that had decided to enter the tournament. It seemed to Jin as if every fighter, with exception of the angry Julia Chang, was in attendance of said banquet. Not that he knew every fighter to be able to account for them all but there were so many strange beings present that he was sure that his estimation was very close to the truth.

He abhorred being there, wondered why anyone had showed up at all, and had no desire to mingle with any of the colorful guests. He had wanted to spend the night alone preparing himself for the upcoming tournament.

But Ojii-san had him center stage and they were sitting side-by-side in chairs fit for nobility. Ojii-san laughed heartily over an old tournament story he'd just finished reciting to the crowd. Some an attendance laughed along with him, others were eating and oblivious to the goings on around them.

It wasn't a difficult guess as to what category Hwoarang stood in. He had not looked up from his plate since his arrival and seemed to be trying his best to eat his weight in food. Jin wanted to leave the banquet prematurely so he would not have a confrontation with Hwoarang.

His only desire was to be left in peace.

It was also straining to keep up the look of blank superiority with Ling Xiaoyu making funny faces at him from the table she was sitting at with Kuma and Panda. Xiaoyu-chan was the closest he had ever come to having a human best friend and was determined to be with him no matter what.

_I have a friend._

* * *

He finally made his escape outside some thirty minutes later. He took a long sniff of the cleansing air. How he enjoyed this place. It calmed one's soul and his soul needed to be calm knowing of the battles that lie ahead.

One day he planned to have a place of his own here but nothing as lavish as the mansion his grandfather acquired.

"You lucky bastard." Jin inwardly groaned, realizing his error too late. He should have retired to his room. He steeled himself for the fate he'd unknowingly inflicted upon himself. "If only all us other poor souls were so lucky."

"Hwoarang," he said simply.

"Mommy croaks and suddenly you are the heir to the richest man in the universe." Heihachi thought it so prudent to give Jin's life story at the banquet.

_I would give it all up in an instant to have her in my life again,_ Jin thought. His sweet mother didn't deserve the hand fate dealt her.

"Tomorrow will end this feud between us," Hwoarang declared. "Tomorrow . . . you will understand that I am your superior . . . on every level."

"Tomorrow."

"I'm going to win this iron king contest . . . or whatever the fuck it's called. And you will go back to Japan with your tail between your legs." Leave it to Hwoarang to be oblivious to the honor it was to be a part of the King of the Iron Fist tournament.

"Until then," Jin said, hopeful Hwoarang would leave him alone.

"Uptight, asshole," Hwoarang muttered in disdain.

_What? _Jin thought. The names Hwoarang thought up to call him were almost always embarrassing.

"Jin!" This louder than a fog horn call's source was the small yet agile, Ling Xiaoyu. It was amazing how she could amplify her voice when it suited her.

"Ah shit," Hwoarang muttered in compliant. "That annoying chicken leg kid is coming." He hurried back in the building as if Xiaoyu could and would put a hex on him. Panda and Xiaoyu came out of the hacienda. A bubble of happiness seemed to surround them.

* * *

"Sounds like Hwoarang had your number from day one," Julia said dryly.

"Pot calling the kettle black?" Jin inquired smoothly.

"I am not uptight," she ground out.

"Do not get me wrong," he said. "When you are passionate about a cause . . . the emotion that you put in said cause is . . . anything but uptight. But to the mere mortals orbiting around you as you advocate . . . You are in uptight rude . . . bitch." He smiled in pleasure, itching for the Julia of old to take the bait and try to destroy him.

"That isn't true."

"Good defense."

"Is that all you have to say about Hwoarang?" she asked determined to keep the interview on track.

He looked disappointed. "For the third tournament," he sighed, "yes."

"What of Yoshimitsu?"

"I met him by chance," Jin answered. "Almost like how I met you." He had to be careful here. He did not wish to give the secret of Yoshimitsu-sensei to the public. It was a secret of the Manji-clan and was not his to tell.

* * *

Jin, once again, slipped away unattended, peering down from a large tree as his bodyguards frantically searched for him down below. He did not understand why Heihachi insisted he have them. There were few men on Earth that could defeat him. He could probably defeat his own bodyguards with little or no effort if he wanted to but he had no desire to do so. He just wanted to make a clean escape from them without any confrontations.

When the guards disappeared among the trees and Jin did not hear their footsteps anymore, he climbed out of the tree. He could have jumped down but he didn't want to risk someone hearing him and coming back to investigate.

"Why would a promising young man like yourself, ally himself with a devil?" Jin turned to seek out source of the question but saw no one. He got in a defensive stance. "Your decision will not end well for you."

"Show yourself."

"If it is so easy for you to escape your guardians . . . I, humbly, suggest that you disappear. Do not give him a chance to corrupt you." The voice seemed to be coming from all around him.

"Ojii-san . . . is a good man," Jin declared.

"Ask yourself why Heihachi Mishima was the first name that came to your mind. I have given you no hint of whom I'm speaking of."

"I know no one else."

"Hwoarang, Lei Wulong, one of the guards," he counted off. "I could name more."

It sounded as the person was jumping around at lightning speeds. "Reveal yourself!"

Yoshimitsu finally stopped jumping from tree to tree, pretty much at the speed of light. Jin had a good view of the . . . creature. His body seemed encased in a thin metallic armor. His skeletal face was also armored. "What are you?" Jin asked. After seeing Toshin creatures like this didn't shock him but he still would like to know who or what he was dealing with.

"A man, a thief, a creature, a saint," he replied thoughtfully. "It depends on what viewpoint a person believes in, or if I positively or negatively influenced their life. I am called Yoshimitsu."

"And new title added," Jin declared, "trespasser."

"Clever, but I am a creature of Earth. And as such, I go where I please and do what I please."

"Ojii-san is an honorable man," Jin said honestly. "My okaa-san would never have sent me to find him if that were not so."

"Honor is perceived in so many different ways," Yoshimitsu replied. "As a thief I know this to be true." He put his hands on his hips. "Heed my words or this place will be your downfall." He went into a spin that was so fast that it was next to impossible to count the rotations, and then disappeared into thin air.

_You are wrong. This place will be Toshin's downfall._

* * *

"Wow, was he ugly," Jin said honestly. "But he gave some good advice."

"Advice that you didn't take," Julia reminded him.

"The next time I talked to Yoshimitsu-sensei, was during our match," Jin muttered. "He kept warning me all the way up to the end." He smiled. "You and I were both blinded by revenge."

"The only big difference is . . . no one pretty much put a billboard in my face warning me," Julia pointed out. "Your spider sense sucks."

"I only had destroying Toshin on my mind," Jin said amused, "even though an American, a Chinese, an alien, and a Korean had changed my thoughts on some things."

"In a few words as possible tell me how."

"I covet Julia Chang. Ling Xiaoyu is my dearest friend. Yoshimitsu-sensei will always hold a special place in what is left of my heart. And . . . Hwoarang was my rival."

He used the present tense with everyone except Hwoarang. What happened to him?

"I will talk about Mishima Heihachi now," Jin declared. "Our meeting and his ultimate betrayal."

* * *

Julia sat in her rocking chair, out on the verandah of her small cabin, watching the sunset and reminiscing over the interview. She shook her head in disbelief. Jin Kazama finished telling her about the events of the third King of the Iron Fist Tournament earlier that day.

She didn't understand how one family could be so twisted. Some people might look at Heihachi Mishima's actions as heroic but others would look at his actions as pure evil.

Julia took her cue from the man himself. In her honest opinion, Heihachi wanted to be the most powerful Mishima. He saw Jin as a threat so he tried to get rid of him but his plan obviously didn't work and it only succeeded in awakening the evil force inside of Jin that Heihachi was supposedly trying to prevent.

If the old coot had left well enough alone, then maybe all of this evil would have been prevented. Kazama Jun's influence in her son's life had shaped him into a force of goodness.

Heihachi's actions turned Jin into a shell of his former self . . . but Jin, himself, forged the rest of his broken trail. He had so many reasons to stay on the path of good. He had the teachings of his mother, the wise words of Yoshimitsu, and the pure friendship with Ling Xiaoyu. They were all very good reasons to do so.

Yet, he chose to walk in darkness.

She understood that he did not feel like he could have defeated Mishima Jinpachi, without completely embracing Devil but she did not understand why he chose to bare his burdens alone. It was obvious that Ling Xiaoyu, Yoshimitsu, and even Hwoarang would've helped him . . . if he had asked and then Devil would not have been needed at all.

Adding Hwoarang to that list was a stretch, but he would've helped Jin, if only to hold the little detail of saving Jin's life over him for the rest of his life.

She didn't add herself to that list. She had long since understood that when she had a starring role in Jin's life, he was already walking in darkness. It was her own fault for not recognizing the truth at all, until it was too late.

* * *

Jin watched the sunset from the roof of his domain. Having free reign of the prison, he was now spending the remainder of the day training. He grinned in pleasure. In his mind the prison was his sanctuary.

No misguided fool would come here and hopes of defeating him and on the other side of that bazaar coin . . . no weird worshipers would come bowing and praying prayers of reverence. The worshipers stroked Devil's already huge ego which annoyed Jin to no end.

"This place is boring," Devil said in disdain. It seemed as if he would say this or think it every hour . . . on the hour.

"Do we have to have this conversation every day?" Jin inquired patiently.

"You will not get her back," Devil muttered. "She would be dumb as Hell to take you back. Julia is a lot of things, but dumb isn't one of them."

"We have the key we need," Jin replied. Isabella had more of a hold on Julia's heart than Michelle Chang. It was good to know that the very symbol of what they once had was her greatest heart's desire.

"Someone tricked us," Devil muttered. Whoever it was had a kick in the ass coming, courtesy of the legend.

"I know."

"Who was it?"

"I will find out."

Devil smirked in anticipation. Maybe this little bombshell about Isabella would propel Jin to do some major damage. Someone deceived him. Someone he trusted. Thinking about exactly what Jin would do once he found out who the betrayer was, made Devil grin evilly.

Once Jin Kazama got in rampage mode, few opponents could stand in his path and live to tell the tale. For the most part, Kazama was weird and beyond boring, but once he decided to play the game Devil's way, things got interesting.

He so coveted the day Jin decided to defeat that old disgusting mass of Mishima Jinpachi. They became an even stronger force to deal with. Devil could not imagine a stronger being than them. Although, a being that strong would be fun to destroy . . . .

* * *

Julia stood when a familiar black SUV stopped in front of her home. She watched the man get out of the vehicle, her hands balled into fists.

That man, with blonde hair shining like a halo, held her future in his hands. He was handsome and very tall. He wore a black suit, and sunglasses, that hid his green eyes. His name was Benjamin Stewart. He approached her smiling. "Hello, Julia Chang."

"What are you doing here?" Julia asked rudely. She didn't want him near her home, but she wouldn't dare say such to him aloud.

"I've come to listen to the information you've gathered so far," he replied honestly. "I trust that you'll be accommodating." He posed the question just to be polite because he knew she had little to say in the matter. He and his organization owned her.

"What kind of information can you give me about Isabella?" she asked frowning.

"We'll discuss that little detail once I've heard the information you have collected," he replied taking off his sunglasses and putting them in his pocket.

_Go to Hell, _Julia thought bitterly. He represented the people who were entangling her into Jin's web. She left all the anger and hurt behind in Japan, and they were forcing her to experience it again. "I haven't had a chance to put the interview session that I had today with Kazama-san, into any semblance of an order."

"You can do that now," he replied. "I have this gut feeling that you are leaving out some important information."

"If you do not trust me, why did you ask me to do this in the first place?"

"Our conversations tend to go around in circles . . . and I cannot say that realization brings me joy."

"Kazama-san started with the third King of the Iron Fist Tournament," Julia explained calmly. "Sometimes he gets ahead of himself. The parts of the conversation I take out will be revealed during later interviews."

"We will see," he replied. "Will we not?"

Hours later, she ended up slamming the door on his retreating back. She hated spending time with him. She hated it almost as much as she hated spending time with Jin Kazama. She put up with both men because of a name hinted at.

She thought she would learn more about Isabella from Benjamin, but all he said was the name of a state; a state that she had never been to. She didn't know if it was the state he meant. It could be a person named after said state or even a company. Her mind strayed to their earlier conversation.

"You didn't think I was going to tell you everything without all the information we want from Jin Kazama."

"No but I certainly thought I'd get more than one word," she replied softly.

"You are way behind schedule," Benjamin said simply. "You forget you are not going there for your own personal pleasure."

"Personal pleasure," Julia repeated in disbelief. "You know the only reason I'm doing this is because you say you have evidence that may suggest that my daughter is still alive. Pleasure has nothing to do with it. You know I hate him just about as much as I hate you and whoever it is you stand for!"

"And we were told you were a nice woman," Benjamin said smirking. "What a miscalculation."

"Nice women do not think too kindly of becoming a puppet of a cause she despises," Julia replied simply. "This whole little idea is going to end up biting you and whoever you work for in the butt."

Julia hoped she did not get caught in the crossfire once the war started.

* * *

**Edited: **July 4, 2013


	6. Trust

Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken or the characters within the series. This awesome series and the wonderful characters within it are the property of Namco. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

Journey Inside a Dangerous Mind  
Chapter 6: Trust  
By: Kadeana

_Come on Julia, you can do this,_ she thought in anguish as she gazed up at the huge building in determination. Her hands were balled into determined fists at her sides but all her bravado couldn't get her feet to move forward. She knew that her mother would feel disappointed if she were alive to know what she was about to do.

_But I have no other course of action._

Everything Julia Chang had tried in getting back her data had failed so the direct approach seemed to be her only course left to take.

It was not like she was really allying herself with the evil Mishimas. Jin was a Kazama. A Kazama who had done the impossible. He was an outside son of a Mishima, and he now ran the Mishima Zaibatsu.

She hoped he did not remember their first meeting. _Oh, please do not remember those crazy events, _she silently pleaded. _It wasn't like what happened was a big deal, so I tried to kidnap him a few years ago. It didn't work._

He had to remember though. He did send her an email with the news of Michelle's passing before the fourth tournament. Julia had already known when Michelle did not come home, after the events of the third tournament, that she was dead. Jin's brief email just made the situation final.

Julia shook her head, determined to clear it, deciding in her heart that she would do anything to get her data back and if that meant apologizing for past slights . . . then so be it.

With one final prayer of strength to the spirits, she marched toward the building.

Jin watched her with a smirk. He wondered how this confrontation would go. The Kazama Jin of this world was still at a crossroads, so he could just as easily let this fateful opportunity pass him by. Jin would bet every bone in his body that that would be the case.

* * *

He could see the younger version of himself passing over the data without a semblance of argument. No doubt too worried over Mishima Heihachi's next move to give Julia the hard time she deserved. _Maybe I should destroy the old fart so he would have one less worry._

He would not allow his younger self to let her walk away. It was not an option.

Jin Kazama sat in his newly acquired office puzzling over what exactly destroyed Jinpachi. He did not remember doing it.

Usually, when Devil took over Jin would have blood on his hands from the ferocity of Devil's attack but after the destruction of Jinpachi, he found no blood under his fingernails. He usually slept for hours after Devil went on a rampage but not this time. He was only out for a couple of minutes.

Someone else had to defeat Jinpachi . . . but who else could have been strong enough to do it? Maybe Kazuya or Heihachi but that did not make sense. It was someone or something else out there. Something that looked like him . . .

Whoever the new threat was, was more powerful than even Jin could imagine. He hoped the being was on the side of good. He needed this time of rest. Maybe rest would settle the demons inside of him . . .

"Jin!" The louder than a megaphone exclamation startled Jin out of his thoughts and almost out of his chair. It served him right for hiring Xiao-chan as a secretary assistant. Her enthusiasm would be the death of him. Before he could press the button to reply, she announed happily through the intercom, "I am sending Julia Chang in to speak with you! So don't embarrass me."

He was so astonished by the name of his visitor that he failed to explain to Xiao-chan that she was supposed to ask him if he wanted to see anyone . . . which he did not.

What could Julia possible want with him? Their paths crossed only during the tournaments and, even then, only under weird, intense, or strange circumstances. Did she wish to try and kidnap him again? An amused smile almost graced his lips.

But that could not possibly be true. Julia had grown into quite the mature young lady. Not that he had conversed with her since the fourth tournament . . . but he saw the truth in the way that she carried herself. She was no longer an angry young girl.

She stepped in the vast office and bowed her head in respect to him as the huge doors closed behind her. "Kazama-san." He peered at her from his perch behind the huge desk. His expression was unreadable. "I wish to converse with you," she said straightening to her full height. He just stared as if she was some unknown species. "Your office assistant said that you were free."

"Please, have a sit," he finally requested, standing.

"Thank you, Kazama-san, but I prefer standing," she replied approaching the desk.

He sat back down in the massive leather chair which almost seemed to swallow him whole and managed to look as unconformable as she felt. "What do I owe this honor?"

_Honor, _Julia thought embarrassed. She briefly wondered if he was teasing her, but the thought was quickly vanquished. This Jin was much different from the one she met when she was a teenager. Teenage Jin, in her humble opinion, was horrible. He had changed so much. "A few months ago, data I created was stolen by the Mishima Zaibatsu. I am humbly requesting for you to return it."

His answer, at first, was a displeased look but then he replied, "I did not authorize this. You must be mistaken."

"It happened when people from this organization stole data from the G-Cooperation. It was before you reached your current status in the company," she replied. "It's . . . the reason that I continue to enter the King of the Iron Fist Tournament in the first place."

"What is the content of this data?" Jin asked, the mystery of her reasons for still entering the tournament now solved. The tournament did not seem like an event the woman she had become was interested in.

"It's a reforestation project," Julia replied. "Big businesses, like this one, are destroying the environment of this planet. We cannot live without nature. My data can change our dire fate, if it is returned to me."

"What would the Mishima Zaibatsu gain by taking your data?" Jin asked.

"Something for sinister purposes, no doubt," Julia replied honestly. "Will you return my data to me?"

It was just like her to insult his company in his presence. "I wish that I could help you," he replied honestly. "And maybe I can someday."

"Are you turning me down?" she asked, looking devastated.

Her devastation touched a part of him that he thought had long ago disappeared. "When my people find the data, I will send it to you," he replied.

"They won't know what to look for . . . but I do," she replied passionately. "Let me find my own data."

"And how would you know what to look for . . . and where to look for it?" he countered. "And why would I let you near our technology? You could have sabotage on your mind."

"I give you my word of honor that I will look for my data . . . and my data only," she replied. "I will turn a blind eye to everything else."

He looked around her, his brown eyes narrowed, watching something intensely. She couldn't help but turn around to see what was so interesting but saw nothing. She sensed . . . a familiar presence though. "Who . . . who's there?" she asked.

The presence came closer. _This is strange. If I did not know any better, I would think it was . . ._ She looked back at Jin. He had stood from his chair, maybe waiting for an answer, too.

"What do you feel?" Jin asked her. He felt darkness. Could it be the one that destroyed Jinpachi?

"You," she replied, her attention diverting back to the presence. She didn't see the startled look he gave her. She sensed him as the presence passed by her. Her eyes followed him, even if she could not physically see him. The presence disappeared after it crossed to the other side of the desk. "It's gone."

The change in Jin was not immediate. He had bowed his head as in relief the intruder was gone, but when it snapped back up, the eyes that were once lost pools of sadness now shone in almost evil mischief. Julia was quite taken aback over the transformation.

"Why should I believe that you would look at only your data?" he asked his mouth twisted in a smirk. "And why should I lift a finger to help you?" His voice had a mocking quality to it that she did not care for at all.

"Because the data is rightfully mine," she replied calmly.

Julia didn't feel his sinister, bared-teeth grin bode well for her cause. "Prove it, princess."

"Did you not just say that you would return my data to me?" she asked.

"That is before I remembered you tried to kidnap poor . . . little . . . defenseless me. When I was a mere teenager." He could not help but laugh over her look of embarrassed horror. "Apologize, and maybe I will consider it."

"You cannot be serious!"

"I am."

He quite obviously had a personality disorder. One of his personalities needed to be appeased for what had occurred between them all those years ago. If he did not have a personality disorder than he was possessed. "If I apologize, will you go back to our original agreement?" she asked softly.

"Is my proud princess so desperate she would bend to my will without a fight?" he asked, his eyes watching her from beneath half-closed lids.

"What right do you have to stand there and mock me?" she asked her eyes brimming with emotion. "I am requesting so little."

"How can you know what the depth of the request, you ask of me, is?" he asked. "Your precious data could now be the backbone of this company."

"You changed after I sensed the presence so like you," she said softly. "Are you the presence I sensed?" His eyes opened and the smirk fell away.

"I will let you search for your data . . . but you can only do it under my direct supervision," he replied. "And you will cut all ties with G-Cooperation . . . and work for me."

"I can't just up and leave the G-Cooperation. I signed a legal contract."

"If you want your data, you will break that contract," he replied simply. "And I will own you."

"No one owns me," she said with quiet dignity.

"Let me rephrase that then," he replied smirking again. "You will break the contract and then you will work for me."

"You don't understand what you are asking of me," she replied. "I am not a true employee of the G-Cooperation. They funded all my research. And I was allowed to work on all my experiments there."

"Do you think they will care if you choose to work here now?" Jin asked. "I do not see anyone from that organization helping you retrieve your data. Your loyalty to them is misguided." He folded his arms. "You can do better research here."

"I can't afford to repay the grant they gave me, when they find out I am funded by this place."

"Use the grant you get from here to reimburse them."

"You still do not understand what you are asking of me," she said shaking her head. "This company destroyed my family. I cannot work here or use any of its funds to help me. It would be a slap in the face of those who died."

"It is a new dawn, Julia-san," he reminded her. "The reign of the Mishimas' is over. This company will now be legit."

"I cannot."

"Ling-chan will see you out," he replied. "Thank your for wasting my time. Which is something you excel at. Good day." He sat down in his chair, opened his laptop, and started typing away.

Julia glared at the top of his head. How dare he be so ruthless with an issue so important! How could she make his see how important this all was? The fate of the world rested upon her data.

Jin Kazama should give her data because it was rightfully hers.

_I have no proof that the data is mine or that it even exists._ _I am casting him as the villain but maybe I will be one too._ _He made only a few simple requests. Anyone other than a Chang would have taken the deal without any qualms. With an issue so important, should I be so hasty to turn down his offer?_

"I will do it," she whispered.

He looked at her, his game of solitary forgotten. "A wise decision."

* * *

Ling Xiaoyu and Watanabe Taiachi were hanging out in her office. Xiaoyu squealed over the concept of an actual office being all hers. Her office was Jin-san's office's bodyguard. No one talked to him without consulting Xiaoyu first. In her own way, she was his guardian angel and that fact made her happy.

Xiaoyu also had another person she was watching over. He sat at her computer playing a video game. He looked so very happy. Very much different from when she found him that awful day. If it was not for the timely arrival of the Jin, from the future, she never would have reached Tai-san in time, or even realized he was so upset.

Xiaoyu hated that her decision to save Bryan Fury caused Tai-san the lives of his father and his comrades. She was slightly upset that he did not tell her the truth from the start, but now that she knew the truth, things would be different. They both could not wait until the next King of the Iron Fist Tournament would occur. Bryan had a butt-kicking coming, out of this world.

Xiaoyu's thoughts turned to the other Jin. Would she see him again? She would like to thank him for helping her save Tai-san. And there was so many other questions that she wanted to ask him.

The doors to Jin's office opened and Julia Chang stepped out. She looked so intense and serious. Julia and Jin seriously needed to take a few chill pills. Life was not that serious. "Was Jin-san able to help you?" she asked from her perch on her desk. She was standing on her hands.

Julia looked at her surprised. "In a manner of speaking," she replied.

"What does that mean?" Xiaoyu asked confused.

"Apparently I work here now," Julia replied.

"Welcome to the empire," Xiaoyu replied happily.

"Thank you very much," Julia replied seriously. "Does Kazama-san have some kind of personality disorder or something? He was acting so unlike himself."

Xiaoyu looked startled. "You know Jin-san personally?"

"No, I do not," Julia admitted. "From what I have learned of his nature during our encounters in the tournament, he seemed . . . different."

"No wonder you lost your matches against him in the tournaments," Xiaoyu said solemnly. "You were too busy trying to read his nature. Sure, you learn a little about a person during such times, but you cannot really know a person and all their different quirks . . . until you have spent a lot of time with them."

"You are right." That was good advice; advice that Julia already knew and most times gave herself. She could not explain why she felt that Jin was acting peculiar and she did not wish to discuss the embarrassing past that she had with him with anyone. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Xiaoyu flipped off the desk landing on her feet. "I better go check on him." She looked at Julia shrewdly. "He wasn't sexually harassing you or anything? Because we have a company policy against that."

"Of course not," Julia said quickly, her face heating in embarrassment. Xiaoyu rushed toward her, dodged around her like a football player, and then hurried in Jin's office closing the door behind her. Julia found herself alone with a young man she did not recognize. "Hello, I do not think we have met," she said.

Tai-san paused his game and looked up at her. He recognized her, but of course she would not know him. "Hi," he said bowing his head. "I am Watanabe-san."

"I am Chang-san. And it is very nice to meet you," she said bowing to him.

"Forgive Xiaoyu-chan for leaving so suddenly," he requested seriously. "She worries about him so. She has a very good heart."

"She does," Julia agreed. "I should go. There is much that needs to be done. It was very nice to make your acquaintance."

"Same, same," he replied grinning.

* * *

Xiaoyu approached Jin with interested caution. "It was nice of you to hire her," she said. He looked up and grinned mischievously. "Now that is a new look."

"I am just having a little fun," he replied. "How did things go with Watanabe-san?"

"It is you!" she exclaimed happily. "I was wondering where you disappeared to!"

"Not so loud," he warned.

"He's alive," she said, in reply to his earlier question. "You cannot even realize the dept of my gratitude." Her eyes filled with tears. "Thank you so much."

"Don't mention it," he replied. "You cannot realize the dept of my relief either."

She blinked her tears away and nodded. "Where's our Jin?" she asked curiously. "I know that it was him inside this office earlier today."

"I commandeered his body," he replied honestly. She looked concerned. "Do not worry. He is fine and I shall leave soon. I only wanted to manipulate his conversation with Julia."

"Why?" Xiaoyu asked innocently.

"Fun," he said smirking.

"Fun is . . . fun," Xiaoyu agreed happily.

"The truth is, I do not want him to turn out like me," he said softly. "That would be awful. I hurt a lot of people in my life. I would despise seeing him make the same mistakes. I am surrounding him with people who influence his good side. You, Yoshimitsu-sensei, and Julia are major players in that respect."

"I am sorry that the life you have led isn't something you are proud of," she whispered. "But one can always start anew."

"I'll be showing up every now and again," he warned. "Beware."

"Okay," Xiaoyu said smiling. "If you need help with your fun, remember Tai-san and me."

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied. His head bowed.

"Yeah," Xiaoyu said, her eyes shinning dangerously. Jin looked up, and she snickered inwardly over his look of astonishment.

"Ah, Xiao-chan why are you in my office?" Jin asked in confusion. "And where is Chang-san?"

"She is getting prepared to make a big move to Japan," Xiaoyu replied impishly. "It was so nice of you to hire her."

"I did not hire her," he said.

"Yes you did," Xiaoyu said sweetly.

"I would remember doing something of that importance," Jin said.

"I don't know," Xiaoyu said, her voice soft. Her brown eyes were wide with innocence. "The way you have been forgetting things lately, I am surprised you remember how to spell your own name."

"Funny," Jin muttered.

* * *

Jin wanted to mentally pat himself on the back. He had accomplished much in the hours before Julia's arrival. Things in the other dimension were going quite smoothly. His Ling-chan had not lost her smile. His Julia was now a fixture in the Mishima Zaibatsu. His younger self seemed to be in more control over Devil. Which was a good thing.

Now he could look forward to Julia's arrival to the prison. They would be discussing the fourth tournament. He didn't look forward to it. He was so weak back then. Now, If Ogre were to appear in front of him, he could bitch slap the bastard into oblivion. Devil grinned over that thought. Soon he got beyond annoyed. "Where is she? Doesn't she know we are waiting?"

"She isn't suppose to arrive until one," Jin pointed out. It was ten minutes until that particular time.

"I am so freaking bored," Devil muttered. "Lets destroy this place and go find her."

"Patience is a virtue," Jin sagely pointed out.

"Kiss my ass," Devil sagely requested.

Julia entered the room some five minutes later. Jin was the picture of calm. "Hello, Kazama-san," she said softly. She was one pretty woman, who happened to look very unhappy with her life.

"You could show a little enthusiasm," he declared, smiling from his perch on his futon.

"I am being forced to interview you," she pointed out. "There is no enthusiasm."

He grinned in amusement. "Please, sit down." Something was bothering her and it had nothing to do with him. She was wearing a look that went above and beyond the look he proclaimed as "the annoyed I despise Jin with the fire of a thousand suns" look.

His smile fell away. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I do not like being manipulated," she whispered honestly, as she made her way to the futon. She sat opposite him on the floor.

"You are so easily manipulated," he replied. "You should be used to it."

"Just the reply I thought I would get from the ring leader of making me look like a fool," she muttered.

"I am sorry," he replied honestly. "I really am." She looked at him startled, but quickly recovered by getting her supplies together.

* * *

Meanwhile in Texas, a little girl was being watched as she played a game with her friends. This was no normal child. Only she could see her friends but the ones watching her knew that they were there. They knew that the child's friends were of her creation, but they did not make them any less real or less dangerous.

"We should get rid of her." A woman, with long red hair watched the little girl, her brow furrowed with worry. Her name was Stacy Hart. "If he finds out what we have done . . ."

"Who could we give her to?" Benjamin Stewart asked. He looked as slick as always, in a black suit, with even his blonde hair slicked back with massive amounts of hair gel. "He cares little for that child. And so he doesn't care about what happens to her."

"But he cares what happens to Julia!" Stacy whispered vehemently. "When he catches wind of the torment she went through . . . he may decide to overlook the vow he made to not to be evil."

"I ask again, who could we give her to?"

"I feel that we should give her back to her mother," Stacy whispered. "And to tell Julia the truth . . . and beg for mercy from him. He will listen to her. There is no need to see through these interviews."

"We were ordered to do so," Benjamin reminded her. "We are not free to make such rash decisions."

"Then we can just leave," Stacy pleaded, her green eyes wide with fear.

"If we leave they will kill us . . . if we stay at least we may have a chance," he replied logically. His eyes went back to the little girl in the room. Her stuffed animals were dancing around, as if someone was holding them up doing a puppet show for her. She was clapping along, happy over the little show. "We are doomed to die, but I would much rather stay alive . . . just a bit longer." He clasped his hands behind his back. "We, stay."

* * *

**Edited: **October 26, 2012


	7. Tekken Four

Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken or the characters within the series. This awesome series and the wonderful characters within it are the property of Namco. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

Journey Inside a Dangerous Mind  
Chapter 7: Tekken Four  
By: Kadeana

"The fourth King of the Iron Fist Tournament brought about many changes to my shattered world. Two years had passed since the betrayal of my Ojii-san. A betrayal resulting in the awakening of Devil. In those two years, I had completely unlearned everything Ojii-san had taught me about martial arts."

"Why go through such great lengths, Kazama-san?" Julia's small recorder was in place on the small table between them. Her red glasses were perched on her nose and she was posed to write his answer and maybe explain about his expressions or movements. His body language could be just as important as his answers. Not that the stoic pose he cloaked himself in would give any body language away.

He found himself amused over her serious expression and the way her glasses was sitting on her nose. He wondered how long the calm would last before she completely lost her temper. Blind anger almost always made one forget simple troubles in life and he found that he was very good at making her angry. "The time I spent with him was a lie. I hated the Mishima bloodline . . . or anything associated with it," Jin replied. "And so . . . I had no use for anything he had ever taught me."

"It took great dedication, concentration, and skill . . . to completely unlearn a martial art like that," Julia said. "I want to commend you for being able to do so, Kazama-san."

"Jin, did she just compliment us?" Devil asked in shock. "Be still my beating, bored heart."

She frowned in disapproval. "I'm not talking to you. I have observed you in battle . . . before you and Jin combined. You still used the Mishima style after he unlearned it. But once you two become one . . . you decided to use a variation of all your katas."

"I was wrong," Devil informed Jin. "She still hates us. I don't understand why she hates me. But you . . . that's no mystery." His left eye flickered back to brown, signaling Devil had retired.

"Kazama-san, why does that happen?" Julia asked. "You are one . . . but sometimes he appears."

"Because . . . I let it happen," Jin replied. "Sometimes we answer you as one. Like right now. Sometimes I will answer as Jin alone. Which will be rare today . . . because he doesn't wish to upset you anymore than you already are. Yes, we are two in one body, but Devil's voice alone still needs to be heard. It would be unfair of me to not let him have his say." _Not to mention, he would start to rebel in the most embarrassing of ways, if I tried to silence him._

_Damn right. _Devil confirmed his thoughts.

"I see," she replied. Since that was the case, she wished Jin alone would speak up more. The interviews would go a lot smoother. "What was your motivation for entering the fourth tournament? Because you had gotten away. There was no need to entangle yourself in the Mishima web again." _You were free, yet you returned._

"I wanted to end the Mishima bloodline forever," Jin replied. "Hatred for myself, the need for revenge, and the sting of betrayal also prompted me to enter the tournament once more."

_Jin. _"Your personality also changed for the better," Julia commented. "When I first met you . . . you were horrible, but you became more reflective."

"Our first meeting was a total misunderstanding," Jin admitted. "You were a mystery to me. I liked mysteries and I enjoyed solving them. I wanted to solve you. I was playing a role and doing it . . . badly. I do not understand why you did not pick up on that fact."

"I don't believe that," Julia said.

"I was constantly blushing like the innocent type that I was . . . over the fact that you kept calling me a pervert." Instead of being embarrassed he was now amused by that old memory. "My mother did not raise a pervert. I was raised to respect all creatures including you." He looked at her shrewdly. "You truly did not see that I was acting?" He declared her answer of the negative persuasion by her skeptical expression. "You were obviously just as clueless as I was during those years that try the soul."

_That . . . was definitely Jinvil._ She decided she would mentally call the annoying being Jin and Devil combined to make, Jinvil. "We are discussing the fourth tournament," Julia reminded him. "We have already covered the third."

"You are so level-headed," he replied graciously.

"Why didn't you see that revenge only leads to more pain?" Julia asked. "Wasn't that what your Yoshimitsu-sensei was trying to get you to understand? You wanted to avenge your mother and ended up being betrayed by your grandfather. Why did you think the cycle would be any different?"

"Is that why you decided not to avenge your mother?" he asked. "You felt that karma would turn on you like it did me?" If that were the case, Julia took the high road for nothing. Fate still saw fit to saddle her with many betrayals. He was the architect of most said betrayals but fate and her precious spirits sat by and let him do it.

_Jin._ "I decided that revenge was pointless and would not have made me feel any better," she replied. "It would only have made me a prisoner and slave of hatred. I would have sacrificed my soul but Michelle would still be gone, and her spirit would be so displeased at what I had become."

"Revenge sure made us feel better. We reveled in bringing that old goat to his knees. We laughed when Mishima Kazuya realized that he, too, was no longer in our league. If only they had joined forces. Then . . . maybe they would've broken one of Jin's fingernails." Devil had surfaced again. His smirk highly suggested he was proud of his evil achievements. "We might regret one or two things, but killing those two posers was . . . and still is . . . happy hour for us."

"Where was your location during the lapse of time between the fourth King of the Iron Fist Tournament and the third?" Julia had more important things to do than to watch Devil preen over their evil conquests.

"Australia."

"What was your life like there?"

"I hardly noticed life. I spent most of my time training."

"Who was your Sensei?"

"His identity matters naught in the great scheme of things," Jin replied. "I hold him in the highest respect and I will not have his memory be dishonored . . . if it is revealed that he was my Sensei."

"Did you keep in contact with any of the people from your life as Heihachi's grandson?"

"I might have sent an email or two," he replied simply.

She wondered who were the other lucky people that received bad news from him by electronic mail. "When your feet finally touched the soil of your homeland, after so much time had passed . . . how did you feel?"

"I didn't allow myself to feel anything at all. I was focused upon winning my matches so I could fight my way to Ojii-san. Feelings would only get in the way of achievement of my ultimate goal."

"Who was your first opponent?" Julia asked. _Here we go, _she thought unhappily.

"It was my most treasured American friend." He grinned, his brown eyes closing in merriment. "She was so much different than when I last saw her. During the previous tournament, life had not shifted into autopilot for her. The angry teenage girl had grown into a beautiful intelligent woman." His brown eyes opened to her looking at him in cautious surprise.

* * *

Julia Chang was sitting beside him and did not even realize it. During intervals between preliminary matches of the new comers, she would discuss the fate of the environment to her silent audience. He never said a word as she recited her little speeches. His face was hidden behind the hood of his jumpsuit. He supposed she was fighting the good fight, in her own way.

There were many battles life threw in one's path.

Chang-san was different from the last time he saw her. She had grown into a beautiful young woman who seemed to be at peace with the Mishimas. She wore a pair of glasses, that on her was very striking. She was taller. Her hair was longer. She was not mentally planning to kick his ass. That fact could change once she found out exactly whom she was preaching to. Where had the desperate angry teenager disappeared to?

Jin had to admit, that hers was a face he had not thought about for a very long time. He hadn't thought of anyone in a long time. It was not so easy to turn off emotions toward certain people, when he was actually around them. Jin had told this girl by email that he was not able to save her mother. How would she react when she realized who he was?

* * *

"When they called the name Kazama Jin and I stood, how did you feel?" he asked. He grinned evilly.

"This interview is not about how I felt," Julia replied. "This is about you and only you."

"That is not the agreement I made," Jin replied, suddenly stern. "You will answer my questions or I just might refuse to say anything at all."

"That is completely juvenile," Julia said frowning.

"I am not the one who has emotional stake in this," he pointed out. "You want closure about your kid and I want to be entertained . . . so humor me." He wondered how she react if he physically tried to throw her out. If she did not comply with his wishes, then he might decide to do just that. He wanted to make her angry. He wanted to see how far over the edge, he could make her fall.

She sighed in defeat because one of them had to continue to act like an adult. "I was surprised it was you," she said honestly. "Any normal person would've made themselves known to me."

"Well any normal person would have actually learned the name of the person they were trying to preach to," he countered. "It was a good speech. I was some what of a nature fanatic myself and the preliminary matches were boring."

"I thought we established during our first meeting that I was anything but normal." He smiled and nodded in agreement.

"You're definitely both closet lunatics," Devil muttered.

* * *

When Jin Kazama stood after his name being called, Julia felt her face heat with embarrassment and in dormant anger. She should have known it was him. The would-be-hero—slash pervert—that wanted to save her mother but only to end up failing in the end.

Julia's eyes filled with tears of grief as he approached the ring but she fought those tears off because the time of mourning was over. There was much she had to accomplish. Her data had to be retrieved and letting emotions cloud her judgments would only cause the people of her tribe . . . no the people of the world, misery.

Her data would stop the alarming encroachment of the desert in the Coconino National Forest. The land belonged to her tribe and, as long as she was alive, it would remain the majestic diverse environment that it had always been.

Once she saved her land, she would the use her data to save other parts of Mother Earth that was slowly wasting away to nothing.

When Julia's name was called to enter the ring, she stood proudly. She and Jin would fight here first. The event coordinators arranged things this way so one of them would fall in the first bout ensuring that the two of them would not be fighting the last decisive battle in the tournament.

The spirits had such weird ways in bending fate to their will.

She had heard that if Paul Phoenix had not been disqualified for leaving the final battle of the previous King of the Iron Fist prematurely . . . he would be the one standing to fight Jin instead of her.

This man had defeated her in the last tournament. The spirits were given her a chance to redeem her honor.

None of the other veteran Tekken fighters would be there. They were already in other various locations in a life or death struggle against their opponents. The winner of the match between her and Jin would then battle the newcomers, before being put in a match against any other Tekken veterans.

To the untrained eye, it was a way of making sure that the King of the Iron Fist Tournament never got stale, by having the same combatants not battle it out in the finals, but Julia felt there was something else behind the arrangement. Something that had little to do with her and everything to do with the young man standing in the ring before her.

Julia entered the ring and faced off with Jin. She still could not see his face. It was well hidden behind the hood of his sweatshirt. All she caught were brief glimpses of him.

* * *

"I could tell you had studied the Kata that I used in the previous tournament," Jin said thoughtfully. "To bad, for you, I had changed it. You might have stood a chance if I had not done so. But then again . . . no one would get in the way of my vengeance."

"And look where your vengeance led you."

"You really are not afraid of me . . . are you?" he asked in surprise. "You say things that make me angry . . . but you do not tremble in fear."

"With our sordid history . . . and since you haven't already killed me . . . I feel pretty confident that you won't do so now," she replied honestly. "Besides there are things worse than death."

"Oh, I agree, Julia-san," Jin said, "your life has sucked."

"And I wonder who is the cause of most, if not all, of my misery?" Julia asked dryly.

He shrugged his powerful shoulders. "Well, no one is perfect."

"Truer words were never spoken," Julia declared angrily. "You are a train wreck in human form!"

"Calm down," he said in amusement. "There is no need for such evil insults."

Julia wanted to scream in frustration. "Kazama-san, will you focus on the interview, please?" she asked, trying to hang on to what was left of her sanity.

"I am not the one all hostile," he replied lazily. "You should really learn to control your temper. You can be so calm and tranquil when it comes to other people . . . but I seem to bring out the worse in you."

She was getting a headache and he was in top form. _Why are you so damn happy? _She counted backwards from ten. "Please, continue." He nodded magnanimously.

* * *

Julia felt as if every part of her body was in pain. Jin had hit her with a most powerful punch and it was hard to recover from it. She briefly looked up at his emotionless face. His hood had come off sometime during their match. In their first match, his eyes seemed to emotionally plead for her to surrender, but in this one, his eyes filled with a torment that she believed had little to do with herself.

She willed herself to get to her feet. If she did not defeat Jin, plan A for retrieving her data would be no more. Plan B was way more risky, so she had to try and retrieve her data by winning the Mishima Zaibatsu. By being crowned champion of the King Of The Iron Fist Tournament, she would be able to use the might of the company to not only heal Mother Earth but also to protect her.

Her determination to save Earth had to be more powerful than his determination for his cause. She just had to win. She would not lose to him again. She got into her stance. _Spirits . . . please, just a little more strength. I cannot do this without you._

Jin was not completely unscathed from the battle. Some of her moves, he could not block with his powerful arms and legs. Blood was pouring from a wound on his bottom lip and she knew that his sides would be bruised come tomorrow. She could not bring herself to be proud of that.

Jin had not moved from his position since the beginning of their match. It was up to her to initiate an attack. His stance was perfect. His style of fighting was almost completely different from the one he had used during their last match. How could that even be possible? But she did recognize some moves he was using. Moves that he probably considered signature to his character. _I will break that stance!_

* * *

Jin watched in barely veiled relief as Julia slowly awakened from her unconscious state. He had not meant to hit her so hard and if he had crushed her skull, he never would have forgiven himself. It was her own fault, he accidentally punched her in the head. She ducked when he thought he was aiming a well placed punch to her abdomen.

Her mix-ups had caused him to break his stance, but almost cost her her life. She exited the ring on a stretcher, insisting that she was okay to the paramedics. She did not spare him a backward glance.

* * *

"You worried me," he admitted. "I honestly thought that I had killed you." She had stayed unconscious too long, in his honest opinion.

"I thought you did too," she admitted.

"Never fight that recklessly again."

"I got you out of that infuriating stance," she muttered.

"Pride goes before the fall," Devil said sagely.

"Your next opponent?"

"The delectable Christie. And I must admit, there should be a dress code for the tournament. You young ladies fighting in those scandalously indecent clothes," Jin replied in distaste. "It is hardly fair."

"And you guys fighting shirtless is fair?" she asked. "It comes down to discipline and concentration. If one doesn't have that, he should not be in the tournament in the first place."

"Hear that Devil?" Jin asked.

_I don't have any discipline or no damn concentration. _"I wanted to see Julia and Christie in a match together," Devil decided. "Cat fight!" He cackled happily. "Oh, and do you guys remember that luscious Jaycee? I wanted one of those so damn bad! It sucked that she only showed up in that one King of the Iron Fist Tag tournament. If I had known that, I would've definitely spirited her away."

Jin tried to speak, got strangled over his own amusement, and decided to leave that one alone.

_Spirits give me strength,_ Julia silently pleaded. She couldn't stop her face from heating with embarrassment. At least she could take comfort in the fact that Devil never realized that Jaycee was her but Jin's reaction worried her.

"Christie was a formidable opponent but no match against me and my resolve," Jin said, now the picture of calm.

"And no match, at all, for me," Devil declared. "I have to admit . . . that when Jin hit people a tad too hard . . . it was me."_ Good times,_ he thought happily.

"And why would you do such an underhanded thing?" Julia asked. He was determined to be a part of the interview so she decided to comply.

"Cause it was funny as hell," Devil declared. He grinned evilly. "Jin didn't have a clue I was manipulating his movements. And I had to have some excitement."

"Excitement," Julia repeated dryly.

"Plus I wanted it to be understood that Jin and I were all powerful, and no one else could ever match our strength."

"Kazuya Mishima's resurrection and return to the tournament threatened that all powerful status," Julia prompted.

"True," Devil replied. "Once someone throws your ass in a volcano, you are supposed to stay dead. I guess Jin's crazy father did not get that memo."

"I guess not," Julia replied trying to hide her amusement.

"The Mishima's are a messed up bunch," Devil declared. "Shame on you and shame on me . . . for ever getting involved with them." He made a face. "Horrible people." Her laugh surprised them all. _I can make her laugh and you can't._

_Enough, _Jin silently commanded Devil, who apparently was determined to act no older than five. "So that is how it is," he said. "He makes you laugh and I make you angry?"

"Your next match in the tournament?" Julia asked ignoring his question.

"This match was a very interesting one," Jin admitted. "It was something about this opponent that was different from the others."

"How so?"

"He made me think of myself," Jin replied. "Almost like he was also a Mishima but not quite."

"What was his name?" Julia asked curiosity awakened.

"It called itself Steve Fox."

"It," Julia repeated in distaste. "You don't call a person an it."

"Oh yeah, it was an acquaintance of King's," Jin said. "Do you two still hangout and reminisce about old times?"

_King. _Before her relationship with Jin, she had an almost relationship with the world famous wrestler. They had a lot in common and King's devotion to orphans spoke to her heart.

Julia really did not know Steve all that well, but what she knew of him did not warrant him being called a thing. "I have not seen Steve in a long time," Julia replied honestly. "He and I do not exactly run in the same circles anymore."

Steve and King both tried to warn her about getting involved with Jin. King's warnings stemmed from Steve. _He is not as he seems. _Steve kept saying that to her. At that particular time, their words were unfounded and insulting. Julia had considered herself a great judge of character. Obviously she was wrong about that.

"A force of a thousand buffalo is equal to a direct punch from Steve," Jin admitted. "If I was any less of a man, I would have cried like a school girl when his fist connected with my poor defenseless abdomen." He smiled. "I really thought he was going to defeat me."

Julia was relieved that she never had to have a match with Steve. A few people actually did cry when Steve hit them with a punch. "So even the mighty Jin almost fell victim to Steve. Is that why you call him in it?"

"I call him an it because he is an it." Steve Fox gave him the creeps. If it was possible, he startled Devil more so than Jin.

"Did you defeat him?"

"Yes," Jin replied. _Barely._ Jin and Steve wore the same expression as Jin was decided the victor. The expression was a mixture of admiration, awareness, and fear. They were thinking the same thought. _What are you?_

"I should add Steve Fox to the list of people that intrigue you?" She asked.

"Yes."

She quickly wrote Steve's name in her notebook. She was curious to hear his side of the story. "I have witnessed the condition people are in after entering the ring with Steve," Julia said carefully. "That matched weakened you didn't it?"

"Yes."

"I have been doing my research," Julia said slowly. "Steve Fox and Ling Xiaoyu are among the people who visit you. Does that fact surprise you?"

"In his eyes, I am the it," Jin admitted. "I am a puzzle that he wants to solve. Am I a being such as he, or am I a different being altogether?" Steve Fox was no longer a puzzle to Jin. He had found out the its origin when the Mishima Zaibatsu became his.

His stomach growled loudly startling them both. "I skipped breakfast this morning," he said looking down as he patted his belly with both hands. "I am starving."

"Do you want me to ask the guards to bring you something to eat?" She asked.

"Arigatoo, but no," he replied standing. "I make my own food."

"But you hate to cook." She watched him make the short journey to his kitchen area. She had assumed he only used it to make tea.

"I do but to risk not being purposely poisoned, it is a task I must perform."

_Poisoned, _Julia thought horrified. "You are immortal so poison should not bother you."

"It cannot kill me, but I still can feel the pain," he replied. "You cannot even imagine how much being poisoned hurts. It makes one yearn for death."

"How many times have there been attempts such as these on your life?" Julia asked softly.

"Too many to count," he replied. "I believe there has been plenty of attempts to poison me but the person or persons only succeeded three times."

She turned so she was facing forward again. Her eyes rested on the tape recorder. It was still on and Jin had just revealed one of his weaknesses. He felt pain. Before she could even think of what she was doing, she grabbed the recorder and stopped it. She edited that part out as he started preparing his meal.

"You are not going to start trying to poison me now are you?"

"Of course not, Kazama-san."

"Not that I would blame you for it," he declared. "You can continue onward with the interview. I can answer from here."

She maneuvered to where she was facing him. She pressed play on the recorder. "Who was your next opponent?"

"Craig Marduk," he replied. "It was not fun having to face off against him after being used as a punching bag by Steve Fox."

"With you being injured from your match with Steve, Craig had an advantage over you."

"My body heals more rapidly than a normal person's would, but I was still at a disadvantage."

As he explained his match against Craig, aromas from the food he was making filled the room. He wasn't preparing a grand meal. It consisted of ramen noddles, vegetables, and steamed salmon. Jin always could make good food.

* * *

Isabella closed her eyes and cupped her hands over her ears, trying to block out the sound, as two of her friends were yelling at each other. She hated yelling. She finally opened her eyes and looked at her third friend helplessly.

"Would you two stop yelling! You're scaring her!"

"He started it!" They both shouted together.

"Well I'm finishing it!"

"Ain't you yelling now too?"

"Shut up!"

"Someone is coming you fools!"

"Who?" Isabella asked hugging her teddy bear.

"That awful woman. Brat if you want me to, I will destroy her."

"That's mean," Isabella said horrified. "You guys better go." At her command they disappeared. Her door opened moments later. She stood up, her little bear still crushed protectively against her chest.

"Hello, Isabella."

"Hi," she said softly. Her eyes focused on the ground, just beside Ms. Hart's feet.

Stacy Hart stared at the little girl with compassion. It was a look she was sure was foreign to the child to see directed upon her from Stacy. She feared this little girl for a long time. Fear turned to hatred, which caused her to mistreat this shy child. "Miss Isabella, may I have a word with you?"

"About what?" Why was Ms. Hart calling her miss?

"Forgiveness." Stacy summoned all her courage not to cringe when those sad eyes focused on her. Those eyes were so much like the terrible Kazama Jin's. This child was her own person. It was time for Stacy to accept this. This child did not cause the death of her family.

She smiled, hoping the child would take her offer of forgiveness.

Isabella, starved for any kind of acknowledgment from any other human being, smiled shyly.

* * *

"Why did the military want Hwoarang? It was like asking for trouble. What idiot would give that guy a gun?" Jin had already eaten. He had placed a plate of food in front of Julia, when he returned to his futon, but she had refused it. He ate that as well. He also had time to wash all the dishes he used after his meal. Jin always kept things clean and organized.

"I had no idea that you thought so highly of Hwoarang. I mean . . . before our interview centering around the third tournament . . . that is. Although, that statement you just made about him, kind of contradicts the one I just made."

"I had no idea either," Jin admitted shrugging. "I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder. But back then . . . I found him annoying and far too arrogant for his own good."

"But . . ."

"Hwoarang—he . . . took my mind off my narrow existence," Jin admitted. "Even I can give him, the king of all assholes, props for that." She laughed softly over that reply. Hwoarang was quite the jerk during those times. "You should do that more often."

"There isn't much to laugh about," she replied.

"Don't I know it," Devil muttered. "Jin has trapped us in this hell hole." He scowled. "It is enough to break my will."

"Aren't you here for being an evil dictator with way too much time on your hands?" Julia asked.

"No! I am here because Jin sold me out! Never trust a Mishima! The backstabbing bastards!"

_Devil, who knew I would find an ally in you? _Julia thought in amusement.

"And I thought Jin would be different. You know? With him being a Kazama and all," Devil spat in distaste. "Worse . . . Mishima . . . ever."

"_What is this, pick on Jin day?" _Jin silently asked Devil.

"_It is always pick on Jin day," _Devil countered sneering.

"_You will calm down . . . are you will face the consequences."_

"_Oh, I am so not scared."_

"_I am warning you."_

"Kazama-san, we were speaking of Hwoarang." Julia knew the expression she was wearing had to be a strange one but Jin had lapsed into an uncomfortable silence—a silence filled with weird expressions of his own. His right eye would flicker from brown to pale white in quick successions. He did not answer her so she tried again. "Kazama-san," She hoped that she was now the picture of calm, "are you having a silent argument with yourself? Because if you are, I can come back later and—"

"Stop being a bitch," Devil snapped in annoyance. "You are making me sound like a dumb ass."

Her calmness quickly changed into hostility. "Did you just call me what I think you did?"

"Why yes, I did. Jin was thinking it . . . and so I said it."

Jin suddenly stood to his full height. "Julia, I think it would be better if you come back tomorrow. Devil is not cooperating and I am getting pissed off."

"Bye, Julia," Devil said grinning mischievously.

"Very well," Julia said. She grabbed her belongings and stuffed them into her bag. "Tomorrow then."

Jin waited until she left. "What were you thinking?"

"I am tired of staying here," Devil muttered. "This has gone on far enough."

"You have little say in the matter."

Devil whistled over that reply. It appeared Jin was highly upset with him. Who knew what type of crippling restrictions he would give him next. Devil missed the times when he was the one the most in control. Since Jin made the horrible decision to take over again, nothing had been the same for him. "I evened out the playing field for ya. She was digging me and ignoring you. This way she hates us about the same now."

_You would think that is a good thing, _Jin thought sarcastically. "If you do not learn to respect me in front of others, your claim that I am the most horrible Mishima will be validated."

"How long will it take for your conscience to be clear? Being trapped here, by you, is a torment for me."

"That is a question I cannot answer," Jin muttered. "But since you are so eager to take a trip, I believe we will."

"Hells yeah!" Devil hooted. "Where to?"

* * *

A man was laying on the veranda of Julia's small cabin, when she arrived home. She stared down at him in concern. He looked like he'd seen better days. His face was hidden behind strands of his long blond hair. His clothes appeared ragged and dirty. He wore no shoes.

Julia sat down on the top step, leading to her veranda, beside him. "Hello," she said shaking him gently. Startling violet eyes opened to greet her, shining behind strands of his beautiful hair. His eyes really stood out. "Are you hurt?"

"Are you . . . Miss Chang?" he asked, his violet eyes searching her face.

"Yes, I am," she replied. "Are you hurt?"

"I hear that you take in strays," he replied, his full lips also veiled by his long hair.

"Are you a stray?" she asked teasingly, trying to put him at ease. _"I enjoy helping strays."_ She blinked and the mental image of Jin saying this to her disappeared.

"Yes, Ma'am," he replied, apparently not understanding that she was teasing him.

"The strays I usually help are of the animal variety," she replied.

"I am an animal."

Julia could not help the warm smile that spread across her lips. "Lets get you inside." She used her strength to help him to his dirty feet. For a man so powerfully built, he seemed so weak. "What is your name?"

"Gabriel."

"It is very nice to meet you, Gabriel." She balanced holding him upwards and unlocking her door. "Just so you know, I can kill you in over one hundred different ways . . . so don't try anything." Not that she would actually kill him but she put the warning out there so he would know she was not some damsel in distress that he could take advantage of.

She planned to never be a victim again.

* * *

Benjamin Stewart's life flashed before his eyes when he walked in his office and discovered Jin Kazama sitting at his desk as if he owned the place. This was the facility that Isabella was being held in. His meetings with The Kazama usually occurred at the prison in Arizona. He felt the taste of real fear as he correctly read the cold expression on The Kazama's face. "H-how are you here?"

"It is not your place to question me," Jin replied bored. "You have a story I would like to hear. Make it interesting but to the point."

Benjamin begin speaking without conscious thought. There were times to be brave and times to take a stand. This was obviously not one of either of those times. "She was initially taken to be a living weapon against you. The plan was created by your late wife's father . . . and financed by the world leaders you had not destroyed. When you made the decision to stop ruling the world with an iron fist, they strapped training her for your assassination. And so my assistant and I was charged with protecting her."

"They," Jin repeated deep in thought. "I am to assume that you had nothing to do with this?"

"My assistant and I are the fall guys," Benjamin replied. There was no bitterness in his voice or fear. "I am the one who meets Julia about the interviews. I am the one who was given charge to your daughter. I am already dead . . . am I not?"

"I have no interest in scapegoats," Jin replied lazily. "I care little of what you do with that child. I would suggest giving her back to Julia, though. The fact that she was deceived about the death of the child and that said child was being trained as a weapon will count against you." _No one messes with Julia but us,_ Devil thought scowling.

"I don't know if giving her the child would be a—," Benjamin started to reply.

"However, I would like you to give a message to your supervisors," Jin said, as if Benjamin had not spoken at all. "I made a vow that I would never kill again, so they are safe in that sense. Julia said something during our discussion that will suffice in this situation. There are things worse than death. I plan to try them all on each and every person who was involved in this absurd plot."

"Even your father in marriage?"

"He will be first." Jin stood to his feet. "Traitors get no sympathy from me."

To Benjamin's annoyance, Stacy Hart took that moment to storm into his office. When her eyes found Jin, she froze in absolute terror.

"You flatter me," Jin said, giving her a warm smile. He disappeared.

"W-What did he w-ant?" she asked, almost to the point of hysterics.

"Information."

Stacy started to breath deeply from her diaphragm, trying to calm herself down. "We have to reunite her with Julia, right away! He want give us another chance like this one."

"That would be a huge error," Benjamin replied. "What do you think will happen if we move to hastily? She will have no reason to finish her interviews with Jin. He won't be too excited about that little fact."

"That is true," she replied. "But after this is finished, she goes back to Julia." She stared into his eyes, daring him to disagree with her.

* * *

**Edited: **October 26, 2012


	8. Attacked On All Fronts

Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken or the characters within the series. This awesome series and the wonderful characters within it are the property of Namco. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

Journey Inside a Dangerous Mind  
Chapter 8: Attacked On All Fronts  
By: Kadeana

At first Jin Kazama didn't recognize the man waiting for him in the area that would serve as their ring. They were in the middle of an actual forest. Jin felt that that gave him somewhat of an advantage over his unknown opponent. An advantage that he actually needed because of the injuries he sustained in his previous tournament battles.

His mother trained him for years in a forest such as this one so he was in his element.

Jin's opponent wore camouflage clothing from head to toe which suggested he was in the military or a hunter. His opponent's powerful arms were crossed and he seemed to be peering at something on the ground so his face was partially hidden by the camouflage cap on his head. Instinct told him that this man meant business and Jin felt himself anticipating the battle but he couldn't quite figure out why.

When Jin got a person's length away from the powerful man, his head snapped up, he grabbed the camouflage hat off his head and slammed it on the ground. Jin assumed he stomped the camouflage cap to make sure that it was dead and then he presented Jin with an almost feral grin.

Simultaneously, horror and adrenaline coursed through Jin's veins. The horror manifested itself because his opponent was a man who found great pleasure in insulting him but the adrenaline stemmed from the heady feeling of a great battle lay ahead. Only Hwoarang had been able to match him move for move and now Jin wanted to use his new style on his old rival.

Jin would never get over the fact that Hwoarang was in the military or at least appeared to be so. If Jin was a high ranking officer, he would have thrown the troublemaker out on the first day. It would not have mattered to him how skilled the younger fighter was. His attitude was not worth it.

"Miss me?" Hwoarang managed to ask through his smirk.

_Miss me?_ Jin thought a smirk forming on his lips as well.

* * *

When Hwoarang came to the realization that Jin had completely changed his style, he attacked in a powerful blitz of kicks at Jin, ruthlessly searching for a weakness he knew had to be there somewhere. As Jin had to spend a lot of time learning this new technique of his, Hwoarang had been fine tuning his own skills. There was no way Jin could beat him now!

* * *

"My spirits, pardon me for using your precious spirits, but I hated that redheaded bastard," Devil muttered in distaste. "Rival my ass."

Julia Chang made a note to laugh at that later. "Why do you despise him so?"

"No one is my rival," Devil said his voice low and calm. "No one on this planet is greater than I . . . or equal to me."

"Jin thinks highly of him."

"Jin's a doofus." _No insult intended._

_Right._ "It disturbs him when someone surfaces who gives us a challenge," Jin explained calmly. "That is why he resents Hwoarang. That is why he resents Steve. And that is why he resents my Otosama."

"Everyone of them are stinking bastards," Devil muttered.

"Of course neither man is a match for us now," Jin muttered. "They would fall to their knees from just coming into contact with our aura."

"Isn't that funny . . . because I am not," Julia replied.

"In casual situations, I restrain my power," Jin admitted.

"The only reason we would want you on your knees in front of us is a little more vulgar," Devil declared wiggling his eyebrows. He grinned in amusement. "Catch the sexual innuendo in that, Princess?" _She seriously walked right into that one. _He shoulders shook in his silent laughter.

"Hush," Julia commanded this aloud and Jin commanded this same silently.

_I know you were thinking it, _Devil thought as he laughed evilly. He was too amused over his clever joke to care about them ordering him about.

"You won that match against Hwoarang," Julia said determined to stay on subject. It was in absolute waste of time to try and make Devil to respect anyone or anything. And who knew when Devil would fly off the handle and cause them to have to postpone this interview?

"Yeah but he was happy at the conclusion of the match," Jin muttered. "I did not know why at the time but during the next tournament, the answer became obvious."

"He lost but he gained some valuable information during that match," Julia prompted. Hwoarang had defeated Jin in the fifth tournament. She remembered because her friend King was Hwoarang's next opponent, but he had never shown for their match because he was locked in a life or death struggle with the irate Devil Jin.

"He learned how to defeat Jin making it the worse day of my life!" Devil exclaimed almost letting the shame he felt in Jin's incompetence be known in his voice. "I tried to kick that redheaded creature into outer space." As a result of the battle, Hwoarang was hospitalized.

"You need to learn to lose gracefully," Julia replied.

"I didn't lose, Jin did," Devil muttered. "You got her thinking I am a loser like you, you simpled-minded asshole."

"I wonder who is the culprit of my ultimate defeat?" Jin muttered. "I never got any sleep because when I tried to do . . . someone thought it was vacation time for them. And as a result, my body was too tired to keep up with Hwoarang's in a match." Devil used to cause all sorts of mischief when Jin went to sleep in those days. He seemed to love to use the time destroying Jin's favorite hangout spots.

"Those were good times," Devil said smiling evilly.

"Why blame Jin for something that you caused?" Julia asked.

"He is the asshole that lost," Devil muttered. "I am a winner." He would do anything to win. Since he was the most powerful fighter this side of the universe, cheating wasn't a necessary fun time anymore. Not that he had to cheat much back during those times. It was just a added perk of being alive. _Hell yeah!_

_This conversation is going no where fast,_ Julia thought. "Did you meet Xiaoyu-san in the fourth tournament?"

"She was looking for me but we never encountered each other," Jin replied honestly. "She started to suspect that something sinister happened to me because I sent her an anonymous email, warning her of danger. Somehow she knew it was from me." It was a mystery to Jin how Xiaoyu-chan figured it out.

"And who else would send her an email like that, Dumbass?" Devil asked rolling his eyes heavenward. "I would've sent her a bomb."

"To hate Hwoarang so much . . . you two sure are alike in your likes and dislikes," Julia said thoughtfully. Before he could reply she charged on, "What of Yoshimitsu-san?"

"He was my next opponent," Jin replied slowly. "I could not put my finger upon it but something was much different about him . . . ."

". . . Other than the fact that he was even uglier?" Devil prompted.

Before he could go into detail of the meeting . . . something hit the force field around the prison with such force that both Jin and Julia and everything else in the room were propelled sideways. Jin held his arm out toward Julia using his power to stop her in mid-air before she slammed into the stone wall. He also created a transparent shield, strong enough to withstand a nuclear bomb, around her.

The prison's sirens started to wail their, too late, warning which irked Jin even more.

He let himself slam into the lead door. His whole left side left a massive imprint in the door. "Jin!" _Julia._ He slammed his right palm on the door, and used his hand as leverage to pull himself from the door. He tested his arm as he looked at her still encased in the shield he put around her.

_Why didn't we sense that coming?_

* * *

She watched as he snatched off his shirt and assumed that he did this so it would not get in the way of his wings. They started to slowly grow out of his back between his shoulder blades. The wing on the left was made out of black feathers and his right wing was made of pure white feathers.

"What is going on, Jin?" Julia asked. Her voice echoed around her. He didn't reply. "Let me out of here." He was ignoring her. "I can help you." But her words still fail on deaf ears.

Julia watched him jump gracefully off the ground. His powerful wings flapped once propelling him through the air, with both fists extended out in front of him he slammed through the wall and flew upwards out of sight. She wondered when he would realize that he just shattered the illusion that he gave to the world's leaders that he was really imprisoned by them.

Did he even care?

Julia seriously doubted it because Jin was incensed and whoever pulled this stunt was about to feel his wrath.

Who would have the nerve to try and infiltrate this fortress and why? Jin had made the decision to let himself be imprisoned here because of a collaboration of being bored and his conscience coming back after a very long hiatus.

Who would want to provoke him into ruling the world with an evil iron fist again? Man should know better than to mess with Jin. Man's weapons could not kill him. Julia did not believe anything could.

* * *

The aerial chase was for several miles but soon Jin was close enough to use his power to stop the F-16 Fighting Falcon in mid air. He was flying at an accelerated rate so when he landed on the F-16, he almost skidded off of it but Devil dug his talons into the top of the aircraft to stop himself.

He tore the top of the cockpit back like it was a top of a can of sardines. He looked down at the pilot out of narrowed eyes. "What the hell was that?" Jin asked. The pilot could only move his eyes. He stared at Jin from behind his helmet, a sheen of sweat fell down his brow. Jin moved his hand in front of his face to allow him use of his mouth. "Who sent you?"

"You might as well kill me now." He would die before he would give the name of his superior officer to this creature.

"I don't kill . . . anymore," Jin replied smiling wickedly. "But soon you will wish that I had not made that oath." He reached out his hands, grabbing the man's shoulders. His talons easily tore through flimsy barrier of the man's uniform and into the flesh of his shoulders. Jin let just enough poison enter the wounds from his talons to intensify the pain. The man who had been nobly holding in his scream let it go in one torturous breath.

The pilot's brain focused solely upon the pain and all his mental defenses went down. Jin had given the man a chance to talk and he had refused it. Jin started to read his memories to see who this idiot worked for.

The pilot's name was Lewis Jennings. He was once a first sergeant in the Air Force but Jin skipped over most of the aspects of the man's life. When he tried to find the information he was looking for, he was blocked by some unknown force. _Interesting,_ Jin thought intrigued.

He released the pilot. He used his powers to slowly bring the levitating plane to the ground. "You inform whoever it is that sent you that it will take a lot more than any human can dish out to kill us. And if they launch another attack while any of our friends are visiting . . . we won't be so agreeable the next time."

* * *

Julia wished she knew what was going on. Jin still had her encased in some kind of energy field. If someone were to enter the apartment by way of the huge gaping hole Jin created, she would be completely defenseless.

Well maybe not defenseless but completely dependent upon his power to defend her which she disliked.

She knew that some of the highly trained prison guards were trying to get inside the apartment but the door had obviously malfunctioned. They were speaking through the intercom trying to get either her or Jin to answer but she could not do so and Jin had gone to corners unknown.

After waiting for what seemed like forever, Jin returned by the way of the door. He had used his brute strength to shove the heavy door aside and surveyed the damage from there. His little apartment was a complete mess. He started muttering his displeasure in Japanese as he started to clean up.

The guards who, Julia was sure, was more afraid of him than any attack on the prison, started to drift away from the door. They would not dare to cross the threshold of his domain and she couldn't blame them for their fear. The commanding officer stayed the longest but quickly muttered something about informing his superiors of the attack and about accessing the other damage done to the facility.

"Hello, do you mind?" Julia inquired still encased in her bubble. She was beginning to think he forgot that she was even there.

The shield around her dissipated and she fell the short way to the floor, landing on her feet. "What happened?" He didn't answer . . . He just silently went by the business of fixing his home. "Should I leave?" When he did not reply she started looking for her belongings so she could make her escape.

This was not a scene in Jin's life that she wanted to be an irrelevant character in and it was obvious he didn't want her in this scene either. Why did this have to happen while she was there? The interview had been going as well as it could go, under the conditions she was working in, but this scene was a bitter reminder of where she stood in his life story. She believed that he saw her only as an amusing pawn in his life and once he was distracted by real life issues . . . she was nothing of consequence to him.

"Why are we bothering to do this?" Devil demanded. "We are a sitting duck here and it is so pointless. No one will ever forgive you for your past deeds."

"I don't care what the world thinks of me," Jin muttered. "I am trying to forgive myself . . . that is all."

"Relent on the no kill ban," Devil commanded. "That stupid pilot should be dead." If Jin would have let him, Devil would have caught the plane and threw it into outer space.

"There is only one way that I would ever lift that," Jin admitted.

"What is it so I can do it?" Devil asked deviously. He dropped what he was holding, to rub his palms together gleefully.

"That is none of your concern."

Devil tried to search through Jin's mind for the answer. "Son of a bitch . . . you have figured out a way to block me out." Twice this had happened to him today. "You would not be hiding the identity of the villain who attacked us would you?"

"Of course not," Jin muttered. "Your enemies are my enemies."

"Remember that . . . bastard," Devil commanded.

"Can I leave?" Julia asked startling him out of his conversation. Devil looked at her blankly but then a sinister looked crossed his face. "Stop looking at me like that."

"Why don't you stay here with me?" Devil asked. "It's much safer."

"No thanks," Julia said. Judging by Devil's expression she felt she would be safer vacationing with hungry sharks and rabid wolves. "I can take care of myself."

"Not from a missile," Devil declared. "Which would have destroyed this place and you, if it wasn't for the force field surrounding it. A force field that we created . . . I might add." He posed as if he was trying to sell a product.

Apparently, he thought she was stupid enough to fall for that but she had other things on her mind. _So a missile is what caused this, _Julia thought her eyes narrowing. "How reckless! Everyone could have been killed!" _Innocent people just doing their jobs._

"Have you ever heard of collateral damage?" Jin asked. "My enemies do not care who they hurt as long as I am dead."

"Collateral damage?! There are innocent people here with families that depend on them for their very lives!"

"In the name of revenge many could care less about the innocent who get caught in the crossfire," Jin replied simply. "It is the way mortals are. It's the way that I am because I was once mortal. I cannot honestly say that I am above revenge . . . because whoever decided to plan this while you were here will face the consequences."

This bold declaration startled her. "Don't pretend this about me!"

"They made it about you," he replied. "Why else would they do this why you're here?"

Julia wanted to believe that his quiet anger had more to do with his apartment and personal belongings being destroyed, than over the fact that his amusing pawn had been present when the attack happened. But how could she when he hadn't even pay attention to how she phrased her words by using the word pretend? She did the only thing she could think to do and changed the subject by saying, "Kazama-san, you have to protect these people."

"And here I thought they were supposed to be protecting me," Devil replied. _One just can't find good prison guards these days._

"Protecting you?" Julia repeated in disbelief. "There is nothing on this planet that can kill you. And if there was something that could . . . I hardly think that the guards and warden here could stop it."

"They all probably were in on this," Devil muttered. "I trust no one."

"Of course you don't. You have set such a shinning example on how to betray people . . . that it is quite obvious that trust is not in your vocabulary." This seemed to amuse Devil whose shoulders shook in silent laughter. "I really should leave."

"How can you?" Jin asked. "It will probably be hours before anyone is able to leave here . . . but you are more than welcome to jump out my new balcony, to bypass the guards. I highly doubt you will stick the landing, though." They were many stories high and no one but he could possibly stick the landing and live to tell the tale. She gave him a cross look.

"You have three options . . . you can help Jin clean up, entertain me, or shut the hell up," Devil said honestly. Jin went back to repairing his demolished apartment.

She did not trust the being inside the room with her as far as she could throw him. Who knows what he had decided to do now that there had been a direct attack on his solitary prison!

That was probably why law enforcement had not come to this location, yet. No one knew what Jin would do. "I hope you don't blame the innocent for something that they had no control over." Julia rushed to the opened door. She hurried to see if any of the guards needed medical attention. Once she helped with the injured she planned to see if they would let her leave.

He looked at where she once stood frowning. He wasn't the only one that had a problem with trusting.

Honestly, she would be foolish to trust him after all the things he had done, but he had given his word that he was finished with being the evil dictator. But that sure as hell didn't mean he would let a slight such as this go unpunished.

"There is no innocent. There is only random people who have not made their evil move yet."

"Devil, you should really learn to trust," Jin decided.

"I don't even trust you, you bastard," Devil snapped.

"We have to be on one accord to reach our fullest potential."

"They destroyed my PlayStation, man!" Devil ranted. "Do you know how rare an original PlayStation is these days? That's a death sentence."

"We will get them!"

"And what will we do once we capture them?" Devil inquired. "Take them to dinner and a movie?"

"Remember there are some things worse than death," Jin replied solemnly.

"Whatever," Devil muttered. He dropped what remained of his precious PlayStation. He walked over to the gigantic hole in the side of the building that he had created earlier. His force field was keeping all of his stuff from being sucked out of the room. "It is time for a serious reality check for you." He sat down and looked over the horizon. "She is never going to forgive you. She will never trust you."

"You do not know that for certain."

"Jin." _Damn . . . he used my name, _Jin thought. That usually meant Devil was about to drop a pearl of wisdom that was very close to a truth that Jin did not want to accept. "You gave Princess the illusion that she was your entire world. You then brutally shattered that illusion. Do you remember how she looked when she discovered the truth? I remember because I thought it was hilarious as hell . . . and then it hurt like hell when she punched the living shit out of us."

"Yes," Jin muttered. She briefly looked as shattered as the symbolic illusion Devil was referring to. He had the startling feeling that she just may react as badly as Hwoarang when he was presented with the truth. When she lashed out with her fists, hitting him in the chest—shattering his sternum—it had been a welcomed lethal attack and very painful.

"Hearing your tale of woe is not going to erase what happened . . . so you are going to have to up your game or cease this nonsense."

"We have to up the stakes," Jin muttered.

"Duh, Dumbass," Devil muttered.

"Why are you talking to me about this?" Jin asked. "I was under the assumption you would like my plan to maybe win her back . . . to fail."

"I want out of here," Devil admitted. "She is one of the reasons why you put us here so . . . you resolve this situation and then I tackle the next one."

"Even if I make the decision to leave here, it doesn't mean that things will be the way they were before," Jin warned.

* * *

Julia arrived home late and tried to explain to her new ward why she was so late but he was just as indifferent to her excuse as her animals that he was tending to for room and board.

She would have figured that he had already heard about the attack on the prison, either by the way of television, the Internet, or by radio but apparently, during the long day, he had used neither.

Apparently, he had no use for modern conveniences. What was even more astonishing to her was the fact that Gabriel seemed to never have even heard of Jin Kazama or of his once dictatorship of the world.

She decided then that Gabriel had to have suffered some kind of trauma that caused him to forget some things.

She turned on her small television set so she could hear news about the attack on the prison. She already knew that the United States was denying and condemning the attack and so were many of the other likely super powers.

It was disturbing because it meant that another threat was out there and whoever it was had targeted her too. What if they came here for her?

While she made a quick dinner she listened to the news. Fear was the prevailing emotion that people showed on the programs. They were afraid that Jin's retaliation would have something to do with conquering the world, once again.

Some of the reporters and interviewers were apologetic and even worshipful of him hoping against hope that Jin was watching and that they were somehow appeasing him.

Even the President of the United States would say a speech to publicly condemn the attack. He would also relay a message to the world from one Jin Kazama and there was no telling what kind of warped message Jin had concocted to terrify the populous.

Gabriel—who was apparently immune to the news—soon left the house to be in the company of her animals. The man was a strange one. He actually reminded her of herself a few years ago. The only thing mattered to her at that time was her project to reforest Arizona and maybe the world. Anything that was going on the world around her was ignored until her data was stolen.

As Julia was finishing dinner the president's speech started. She was uninspired by his words as she was sure about everyone else in the world—who was listening—felt the same exact way. The words and actions of one Jin Kazama was the only words that mattered.

He was the one who held all the power.

His letter started with a greeting that had to come from Devil and the president reddened as he read it. "My fellow Assholes." Julia could not help but laugh softly over the greeting. Devil had no respect for anyone or anything.

"I welcome any and all opponents who feel the need for revenge to come and try to get it. It serves for great entertainment for an otherwise dreary existence. I will not tolerate actions such as these while my friends are visiting here. I suggest you learn my schedule and live by it. You error greatly if you believe that I will not retaliate. My revenge will be absolute. Bother my friends in any way . . . in revenge against me, then . . . I shall crush you, your family, your friends, and your nation. Sayonara, you weaklings."

Julia shook her head as she turned off the television set. Obviously, the speech was not meant for staying the fears of the populous of the world. The way Jin phrased some of his words probably scared them even more. It was a warning and his enemies would do well to heed it.

She fixed two place settings for dinner and then called Gabriel inside. Julia decided she would use dinner to get to know him better. There had to be some reason that the spirits had led him to her door.

* * *

Julia was called back to the prison the very next day. Jin had been moved to another side of the massive facility. He was in an apartment that was an exact duplicate of his last one.

He also had another visitor. Well, actually, two visitors. A woman and one of the prettiest little girls Julia had ever seen. She was enchanted by the child and by comparison Devil looked at the little girl as if she were an atomic bomb about to detonate or something.

"I'm sorry, Kazama-san," Julia said. Her eyes strayed from the girl back to him. "I didn't know that you had company. I could come back at a later date." Her eyes naturally went back to the little girl who was studying Jin with dispirited brown eyes—eyes that were a lot like his.

"You may not leave me alone with these two." He sounded as if the woman and little girl was a direct threat to his very existence. Which was completely absurd.

"Excuse my rudeness but, who are they?" Julia asked.

"My worse nightmare," Devil muttered. "Witch, this is Julia-san. Julia-san . . . Witch."

"My name is not Witch." The woman was tall skinny and had long red hair. "My name is Stacy Hart and I was introducing Jin to a new occupant that will be added to this facility."

"This innocent child?" Julia asked appalled.

"Innocence is in eye of the beholder," Devil muttered.

"Why would a child be brought here?"

"She has the same powers as Jin. We can no longer control her so we are leaving her in the custody of the only being who can."

"How is something like that even possible?"

"Look at her closer, Onna," Jin commanded. "Then you will see."

Julia's eyes traveled from him back to the little girl. She had long thick hair, the color of a raven's wings. Judging from her height, she could not be no more than four or five. Her face was oval and shape, but most importantly she had Jin's eyes. Everything about her reminded Julia of a very feminine version of Jin.

There was nothing in this little girl that reminded her of herself but she still knew who she was.

Jin watched her face as the realization came to her. Julia's soulful eyes widened and her her hand covered her now gaping mouth. "Isabella," she whispered through her fingers.

"The elephant crap has hit the fan," Devil grumbled. Things were about to change. He could sense them shifting within Jin. What could the devious being be conspiring now?

* * *

**Author's Notes: **First of all, I would like to say, thank you for the reviews in the patience. I actually finished this chapter before I was officially supposed to. That means, that more likely than not, the next chapter will be published sooner than you think.

There is another villain out there somewhere and he is behind what happened to the prison. He is meddling with this dimension like Jin meddles in the affairs of the other dimension. He is trying to achieve a more sinister plot than Jin is. It is a Mishima but it is neither Heihachi, Jinpachi, nor another version of Jin. It is the original Mishima-sama in purple. In one of my previous chapters Jin mentioned to Julia that the third dimension being a few years behind there own but what became of the second the dimension? Answer is: For a later chapter.

**Edited: **October 29, 2012


	9. A Dangerous New Inmate

Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken or the characters within the series. This awesome series and the wonderful characters within it are the property of Namco. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

Journey Inside a Dangerous Mind  
Chapter 9: A New Dangerous Inmate  
By: Kadeana

At that moment, Devil mourned the time that he advised Jin to up his game in trying to gain Julia's forgiveness because this was just too damn much for him to bare. He could not possibly allow that little creature to stay with them but he knew that was exactly what was going through Jin's head because . . . he was in Jin's head and that was a thought Jin wasn't blocking from him.

The defiance to let the creature stay had all but disappeared when Jin watched Julia's reaction. She was now hugging the little creature to her chest openly crying. The creature was returning the hug awkwardly, seemingly unused to human compassion.

"_No way, Jin." _He folded his arms over his chest and shook his head in finality.

"_It is perfect." _He unfolded one of his arms and clasped his forehead as if he had a headache. _"Why didn't we think of this before?"_

"_That kid is a monster!" _He released his forehead to point at the offending monster in horror.

"_Did you come to that conclusion when she was hiding behind Hart-san's legs in fright?" _He rested both of his arms at his sides.

"_We hate kids! They suck!"_

"_We like Julia."_

"_Not if it means we have to put up with that horrible creature." _After saying this Devil directed his unforgiving gaze onto the evil woman but he wasn't too upset to notice that the air of control she was pretending to have was visibly slipping away. "Witch, why would you think it would be a good idea to bring it here?"

"B-better here that in the hands of your enemies." To her credit she tried to rally behind her fake courage, folding her arms and raising a red eyebrow to enhance the effect.

"You . . . are my enemy." Devil wanted to preen with evil glee over her reaction. She looked as if Jin had told her he was going to rape and pillage her family.

"We cannot keep that weapon with us any longer."

"Weapon." Both Jin and Stacy stilled at Julia's gentle deceptive tone. She stood back to her full height and put herself between them and Isabella. While reuniting with the creature, Julia had apparently been listening to their conversation.

"Nice choice of words, you cowardly tramp," Devil snapped. "_Here we go," _he thought unhappily.

"She is a child . . . my child." Julia sounded calm but anger sparked in her eyes. "Talk to her and of her as the living being she is."

"Of course." Stacy's tone was humble but her dismissive manner was anything but. "Forgive me."

"_She doesn't know Julia very well, does she?" _Jin asked.

"_Obviously, not." _ It was Devil's hope that she continued to treat Julia in this superior manner. Maybe Julia would kick the crap out of her since Jin would not allow him to do so. _"Don't you dare warn her."_ When Julia's hostile gaze fell on him, Devil's hopeful expression's faltered. _"What the—?_

"How long have you known, Jin?"

"_That promise of pain look is for you . . . not me." _He find himself hoping she would kick Jin's ass too.

"I inquired about the situation only after you presented it to me."

"And the thanks we get is this asshole dumping the creature here with us," Devil muttered. "The horrible afflictions we must endure for an ungrateful onna . . . like yourself."

"You can't leave her here with him." Jin felt relieved that Julia had turned her back on him to confront Stacy. "I won't allow it."

"At least someone here agrees with me." Devil was relieved to have an ally in all this.

"You have no say in this matter at all, Julia Chang."

_Hell, yeah . . . that evil bitch is brave. _Devil hoped Julia would punch her teeth out.

"What did you just say?"

Devil was about to repeat what Stacy said—adding his own colorful spin to the dismissal—but Jin stopped him.

"She will stay within this facility with Jin . . . or she will be handed over to another agency who can handle the situation."

"The situation is fraud and kidnapping," Julia replied. "You people don't even care what you put me through . . . do you?"

"Why would they?" Jin asked. "All they saw was a weapon to be used against me. And when I stopped myself . . . the urgency to make the perfect weapon ceased to be a priority."

"Kazama-sama, if she leaves the safety of this place . . . and then falls into the hands of others . . . You know that the mission for her to be the perfect defensive weapon will be prioritized once more." Stacy was trying her very best to sell the unwanted project to him.

"I don't care." He watched from the side of his eyes as Julia reacted to his words. First she looked as if he hit her and then her looked morphed to resentment. She looked like her teenage self. "But she does."

Stacy finally decided that Julia presence was worthy of her attention but the foolish woman looked less than cowed by Julia's dangerous expression. "Does she stay here or do I hand her over the UWO?" UWO was the abbreviation of the title, United World Organization. Its single goal was to find a way to get rid of Jin for good. "They, desperately, want her . . . and I can assure you that they won't be as gentle with her as our organization has been."

"Why make us believe she was dead? Why?" Julia searched for any kind of guilt or sympathy from Stacy but found none and so spoke accordingly, "And if you ignore me again . . . I promise you that you will regret it."

"If I were you, I would take her seriously," Jin warned much to Devil's horror. "The last time I saw her angry like this she broke my shoulder bone with a well placed double punch. I survived it . . . but I doubt you can." Her nervous glance over at Julia made him decide that she had finally understood the danger she was putting herself in.

"_I hate you,"_ Devil decided. Jin was unbelievable. How could he even deny him such a simple pleasure of Stacy being beaten.

"We had nothing to do with the way she was taken from you." Jin had to give her credit. The odious woman could put up a brave front. "She was already acquired by NATO months before being intrusted with my superior."

"I can't believe that you people were idiotic enough to believe that that little creature could stop us," Devil said in amusement.

"This little girl destroyed our entire facility with just one of her many imaginary friends. It was completely blown off the grid." She looked as if she was still in shock over the loss of her precious facility. "She is your biggest threat." Devil snorted in disbelief.

"I didn't know he was gonna do it," Isabella whispered. "He just doesn't like you very much, Miss Stacy."

"Nobody likes her," Devil snapped.

They lapsed into silence for a moments and then Julia said, "Jin, you shouldn't be so gullible to believe that your strength won't be surpassed one day. Didn't you surpass the ones before you?" Julia turned to look at her seemingly small, fragile creature with—if she had any common sense—with some reservation . . . and Devil could not help looking at the creature with renewed interest himself.

Unnerved by their perusal, the child put the tip of her thumb in her mouth as if to suck it.

"I'll ask you one more time," Stacy said. "Will you keep here with you, Kazama-sama?"

"Everything about you makes me angry, so be quiet," Devil commanded. "We have decided she will remain here, but you'll have to find somebody else to look after her. We think you will do the job nicely since you're the one that brought her here." Stacy opened her mouth to speak. "Don't say anything that I don't like . . . unless you want to pay the toll."

She closed her mouth and remained silent a few seconds and then finally blurted, "I have to discuss this with my superior first." Stacy seemed to visibly shrink from the force of his glare. "I'll return with with his answer—"

"You intruded upon my meeting with Julia. So an atonement for that unforgivable sin you shall be given charge of her until our interview is over." This time Jin's glare halted her efforts to disagree. "You two are dismissed."

"Isabella." At the sound of her name the little girl rushed around Julia and hurried to Stacy's side like a loyal puppy. "Where in this tomb should we go?"

"You have a big mouth for such a scared little weakling," Devil muttered. "Next door there is a room that is an exact replica of this one. You can retire there. The guards will escort you." Why on Earth was Jin letting him take charge of this situation?

"Wait!" Julia pleaded as the two walked toward the exit. Only Isabella stopped to look back at her. Her thumb returned to her mouth once more.

"Julia, let it go, for now," Jin commanded. "She'll be here after the interview is over."

* * *

"Belle," Stacy said. Isabella, extracted her thumb from her mouth to offer Julia an awkward wave and then she turned her attention back to her commander. After Stacy Hart spoke quietly to the guards through the intercom, the door slid open and the two stepped over the threshold and out of the room. The doors closed behind them leaving Julia with a being she was quickly realizing she still didn't understand at all.

"Kazama, do you know how much I want to seriously hurt you, right now?" She watched him reach down and pick up her tape recorder from the table.

"I found your tape recorder among the debris . . . but your notebook was lost."

"Are you kidding me?" But he proved that he wasn't by holding it out to her as if nothing in world was out of the ordinary. "React to what just happened?" She knocked his hand away but that didn't seem to deter him.

"I believe that we were discussing Yoshimitsu, before the terrorists attack on my fortress." He looked down at the recorder as if to see if he could use it instead of her.

"She is alive . . . and she is here." He actually spared her a blank look before his attention went back to the all important recorder. "React." _Please._

"I hope that none of your important notes were destroyed."

"Jin." She was trying to remain calm but his reaction was threatening to push her over the edge of sanity—which meant she would be joining him into a deep plunge of insanity.

"We don't care," Devil replied exasperated. "You already know this. Now this day has been very traumatic for us. And so on behalf of Jin and myself . . . shut the hell up and then just do the damn interview!"

Even Devil . . . could show a reaction where Jin could or would not.

How could she be so wrong about him? "And why can't you understand? I want to be with her. The answer of my question, that had me doing these interviews, in the first place . . . has been answered. There is no reason for me to continue this nightmare."

"You do realize that interviewing me is the only way you'll ever gain access to my domain?" Devil sneered. "That means I am to assume that you are content that she is alive and well . . . but do not want anything more to do with her."

"Jin." He would deny her entry and they both knew it. "I can't do this today."

"Tomorrow would be for the best." Jin finally had something to say on the subject.

* * *

"Women and their emotions piss me off," Devil muttered. "Who knows what the hell one of those will do or say next!"

"Forgive me if I say the same in reference to you." Julia turned suddenly, almost slapping him in the face with her hair. He watched her until she disappeared on the other side of the door.

"Did she just call us a girl?" Devil found Julia and her insults amusing to no end.

"Yes."

Devil chortled over Jin's emotionless reply but remembered he was at odds with Jin and sobered quickly. "You're stupid, Jin." He shook his head in disgust. "You showed absolutely no emotion in reference to that creature. I'm starting to believe that you're going out of your way to sabotage any type of relationship with Julia."

"What type of emotion was I suppose to show?"

"Seriously, Jin." Did he have to do everything himself? Something wasn't right with Jin and he was just now realizing it. "You lost something didn't you? When we faced old man, Jinpachi, that second time."

"You just realized that now? Actually, I started losing certain emotions when you first awakened."

"Well, we've got to fix this. I am supposed to be the sociopath in this equation . . . not you."

"Have you ever thought, unwanted comrade, that some of the emotions you thought were strictly coming from me . . . were coming from your side, as well?"

"Now I know your are a sociopath!" He knew those words would haunt him for days.

"Sorry, I will do better the next time." Jin begin to tinker with the tape recorder.

* * *

Stacy stood in the little apartment trying to get her fear under control. How was she able to talk with him . . . to even be in his presence for so long without screaming in terror? She wanted to draw herself into a ball, on the futon Isabella was sitting on, and cry like a little child.

"Stacy, who were those people?"

"Hopefully . . . new friends."

"They were weird."

"You have no idea."

"Huh?"

Stacy didn't know whether she should be content with the fact that the prospect of moving inside this place would protect herself and Benjamin from their other enemies, or afraid that they would be living in a tower with a monster. No, make that two monsters.

"Is this my new room?"

"I think it may be our new room." Stacy did not want to get in contact with Ben yet. He had no idea that she had the courage to conceive of such a desperate plan. She decided that she was too much of a coward to face him. She had to recover from the confrontation with the Kazama, first.

Her legs started to shake so violently, that she fell to her knees and to her credit little Bella rushed to her side.

"Stacy, are you okay?"

"No, I'm not."

* * *

Julia finished mucking her horse's stall with a ferocity that she was sure that disturbed Gabriel—who usually did the job for her—but she had taken the task over in hopes of trying to get rid of the pent up negative energy that was threatening to consume her.

But nothing seemed to help.

She had already taken Thunderbolt for a hard ride but even the company of her stallion could not give her welcome release.

"I-is there something bothering you, Julia?"

_Gabe sure is observant. _She gave him props for, finally, speaking up. It was probably a serious chore for him to do so and it only took two whole hours for him to work up the nerve.

"I met my daughter, Isabella, for the first time today." He knew most of her history because of her efforts to get him to open up about his own history but usually all her actions only earned her was a curious stare. "Actually . . . Jin and I both met her."

"Then why are you so unhappy?" The spoke's person of her stray animals violet gaze was so innocent.

"Why should I be happy? She was kidnapped so they could train her to defeat Jin. And now she is a prisoner in that place too."

"Imprisoned?" She nodded. "With Jin Kazama?" She nodded again relieved that tone and expression hinted that he understood that this was not a good thing. "Why?"

"The organization that had been keeping her, suddenly grew a conscience. Instead of passing her over to another organization . . . they placed her in Jin's care."

Jin. His actions should not have the ability too surprise her anymore but he some how found new ways to anger her. A long lost daughter had been presented to them both and his only worry seemed to be that he could not salvage her notebook for their ridiculous interviews.

"That's . . . bad?"

She could not help sending an incredulous look Gabriel's way. "How can you not know . . . or understand Jin's history? You're either from another planet . . . or you have memory problems."

"It is the safest place for her."

"The safest place for her is with me."

"Julia, her father can manipulate you with ease. And she will be better at it than he is. You are safer with her being with him." She watched him lead Thunderbolt back into his stall.

His words repeated themselves inside her head.

She could not help but think of Isabella's eyes. They were so much like Jin's. Behind those soulful browns could not be a being as cunning as Jin . . . could there?

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I am really sorry for abandoning the story the way I did. I actually had this chapter finished a long time ago but I felt that it needed to be longer and I felt that my writing was terrible and this wasn't worth publishing. . . so I sat on it. I'm really sorry. The new stuff that I came up with actually didn't fit with the theme so I pushed it back to the next chapter.

Isabella will actually bond with Devil because she won't ever see him as something that doesn't need to exist. That will be a first for him. Jin will be harder to crack.

I am pretty sure the next chapter will be called, Why can't I exist? It is a question that Devil poses to Julia.

Comments are always welcome!

**Edited:** October 29, 2012


	10. Fourth Tournament Concluded

Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken or the characters within the series. This awesome series and the wonderful characters within it are the property of Namco. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

Journey Inside A Dangerous Mind  
Chapter 10: Fourth Tournament Concluded  
By: Kadeana

Few things in life could please Devil, since Jin Kazama decided to banish them both to their—admittedly impressive—prison tower . . . but as his skin regenerated after being burned from his body, he decided that he had found his favorite diversion. Most humans—okay, pretty much all humans, including the one he was sharing a body with—would think that his diversion was inappropriate, but humans were, is, and would always be . . . stupid.

He was trying his very best to kill Isabella.

And the entertaining part about all this was the very original ways she came up with to stop him. He was sure that he'd been death rayed, shot by a rapid fire gun of some kind, almost crushed by a giant that he couldn't see, and many other delightful invisible attacks that brought him such joy. And the kicker of all this fun was, she was sitting with her back turned to him playing tea party with her stuffed animals. It seemed as if she was oblivious to his quest to try and destroy her.

Isabella could defend herself without paying attention to what was going on around her. Which meant her defense had to have a consciousness all its own.

How was that even possible? And who could teach him how to do it?

It was no use asking the little girl to teach him. Human children were even dumber than the adults, if that were even possible. So there was no way she could be able to explain this to him without confusing the hell out of them both. But he was having such fun, this little detail did little to damage his good mood. Besides, they—meaning him and Jin—would figure it out eventually.

And that is where Julia found him, at the top of the tower, plotting his next move to test the little girl's abilities. Julia looked at him in blank disbelief and it was if he could see the imaginary gears in her hear turning at warp speed trying to figure out what he was doing—and if she figured it out he and Jin would never hear the end of it. He's pose was a strange one. He was crouched low to the roof, with one powerful leg stretched out to the side and the other leg propped up his chin as he stared at Isabella with a gleeful grin.

For Isabella's part, and what had to be a very bazaar scene, she was sitting on the floor, with her back to him pouring her teddy bear some imaginary tea and yapping away at the stuffed animal about some nonsense or other.

"Should I even ask what you're doing?" Julia's question turned Devil's grin into a scowl.

He glared at her and the huge bag that was resting against her thigh—by the way of a long scrap resting on her right shoulder. Where did she think she was going? Camping? "What are you doing here?"

"A psychotic dictator ordered me to be here to interview him . . . or I wouldn't be able to visit my daughter." Her answer surprised a chortle out of him but her attention had swiftly turned from him to Isabella so she missed his merriment.

He wondered if the brat's defenses would attack Julia and if they did, would she be able to live to tell the tale. The woman was a strong one, he cringed at the memory of her kicking him between the legs and almost launching him out of orbit, but he didn't believe that she could live through an attack that was meant for him so he decided not to risk it. He would use someone else to test that. Maybe one of the prison guards.

_Devil. _Well, there goes the prison guard test subject idea. Jin and his need to not use living crash dummies was so boring.

He reluctantly got out of his attack position and stood to his full height. "Creature-chan, I'm hungry." Isabella grabbed her old dirty stuffed toys and stood as well. She turned and was in the process of getting ready to run after him but she noticed Julia and apparently stopped short of her plan to follow him. Her thumb went to her mouth again.

_Creature-chan? _Julia didn't know what to think of that choice of nickname. "Hello, Isabella." Julia walked forward and stopped just short of getting into the little girl's personal space. "How are you doing today?"

"We like it here because he entertains us." Her southern accent was just adorable but that answer worried Julia too much to compliment Isabella about it.

"We?" Julia prompted slowly. That sounded a lot like in answer Jin would give. She hoped Isabella added that Stacy Hart person and her stuffed animals to that we list and not just herself—and her own version of devil. "Who's we?"

"I'm hungry."

Julia decided it was best not to interrogate Isabella and smiled mysteriously as she reached into her tote bag to hunt for the lunch she had packed for Isabella. "Isn't that a coincidence because I brought P, B, and J sandwiches." She didn't even flinch when Devil was suddenly behind her and peering over her shoulder to see what else was inside her bag of goodies. There were other sandwiches but she took a shot at trying to guess Isabella's favorite and almost everyone liked peanut butter and jelly.

"Pajamas?" Isabella looked confused.

"Peanut butter and jelly, dumb ass." Only Devil would think that type of language was okay to use in reference to a child. "Her Jin side is obviously showing."

Julia didn't outwardly show her satisfaction over his grunt as the heel of her boot ground down on his toes. She ignored his angry curse of pain to concentrate on Isabella's reaction to Devil's words. Bella was amused by the entire exchange, trying futilely to stifle an awkward giggle and she finally gave up trying.

She was showing emotion that she didn't have the ability to convey when Julia first met her. She was even looking up at Jin—who was still looming over Julia's shoulder and ever at the ready to snatch her bag for himself if he saw something he wanted—with admiration. Devil really was in a good mood for some reason.

"I ain't never heard peanut butter and jelly being called that before."

"And I have never heard a weirder accent than yours."

"Mine ain't weirder than yours."

"Julia-chan, I've been waiting to ask you this all damn day . . . What in the hell is an ain't?"

"She is from the south, so that is southern slang used instead of have not, is not, et cetera." Her response was automatic because she was just stunned. The two of them seemed to be getting along quite well. Isabella thought his personality funny but she had no idea why Devil was being so . . . agreeable and Jin . . . had not manifested himself at all, yet.

Not even as Jinvil. Come to think about it Jinvil was speaking less and less. Did that mean Jin and Devil were at odds with each other in such away that they couldn't speak as one?

Her fingers found the lunch bag but she squeezed it a little to hard, but when she realized what she was doing she loosened her grip on it, opened it, and then fished around for a sandwich and a small container of fresh cold milk. She had packed a lot in the bag.

"She sounds like she is from another planet."

"Apparently . . . she feels the same way about you."

"Are one of them sandwiches for me?"

"Are one of those sandwiches for me." Julia could only correct her, still in stunned mode, as the bazaar scene unfolded around her. How did this happen? Did this mean there was something sinister about her daughter that Devil liked?

"Creature-chan, you need to take an English course."

"And you need to take an exorcism course," Julia replied. He, of course, found that amusing which made her realize he had developed a pattern for laughing at the insults she hurled at him and especially the ones directed at Jin.

Julia pulled out a sandwich—checked the label to see what kind it was—and a bottle of milk from the bag and held it out to Isabella. She hesitated, shyly, for only a moment and then dropped her stuffed animals and grabbed the offered food items. "Thank you." She retreated backwards several steps as if she didn't know what to do with herself but then turned her back to them both and then sat her food on the ground, rushed back to get her stuffed animals and then retreated back to her dining area. Her stuffed animals were scattered around her as she ate with her back towards them.

She was used to eating alone and Julia didn't like that one bit but the astonishing part was that she decided to eat on the floor, closer to where they were, instead of going back go her little makeshift table. She was sure that Isabella wanted to be close to Devil but, Julia had a hunch, not too close to her. "Does she understand who we are to her?"

"She cares even less than I do, about what we are to her."

"What were you doing earlier?"

"Teaching her interpretive dance."

Well that line of questioning was going nowhere fast. "Have you discovered who attacked this place yet?"

"Why are you being so civil?"

Devil had his nerve being suspicious of her motives when his own civility was highly suspect. "Making sure there is no threat of getting blown off this roof by your enemies isn't being civil. It's being smart."

"It was the Boogeyman."

"You and Jin are the the Boogeyman." Devil seemed to concede that point with an amused grin and then both his eyes turned brown signaling that Jin was about to finally make his appearance.

"Nina has been following up leads but so far everything has been a dead end," Jin replied.

"Should I be worried about her safety here, Kazama-san?"

"No, and from what I have observed of her abilities, if something happens, it might be smart for us to hide behind her."

Him? Hiding behind someone? He obviously only meant her when he said us but was trying to soften the blow to her ego. "Right." Julia watched Isabella's back as she ate her sandwich. "Are you ready for the interview?"

"If I remember correctly . . . we left off with Yoshimitsu," Jin replied.

If he remembered correctly? She couldn't help pinning him with a dry look. The interviews seemed so important to him, he probably had every one of them transcribed in his memory. She decided not to waste her time calling him on that.

She raised her arms high to stretch her muscles with her face turned toward the sun. "It's a beautiful day and I would prefer to do the interviews up here."

"Who cares what you prefer," Devil declared. "It's hot and I'm tired of being up here . . . so I'm doing the interview inside."

"Fine with me."

"Why aren't you still mad at Jin?" Devil was determined to know. "If I were you, I would be plotting different ways to make his life difficult."

"Like you don't do that already," Jin muttered to Devil's amusement.

"Why should I be mad at him? He proves himself true to whatever type of code that he lives by. The fault is mine . . . because I always seem to forget that."

"Is it the code of the wandering psychopath?" Devil asked.

"We go inside," Jin replied as if neither of them had just insulted him.

"What is wrong with you?" Devil asked in exasperation.

"I don't know . . . but I'm beginning to understand." If they were expecting him to explain farther . . . they were end for a huge disappointment.

"I don't want Isabella to hear about our history, yet." Julia's eyes found Isabella again. She had turned in her direction to try and feed her teddy bear some of her sandwich. "Where is her caretaker?"

"That awful woman from yesterday hired someone else to look after her . . . because we sure as hell wasn't doing it," Devil muttered. "That new caretaker is scared of me too . . . so she is currently cowering in fright in their room."

"If you have been the one handling everything . . . then there is no mystery as to why she is terrified," Julia said sighing. Instead of laughing, as she was getting used to him doing, he looked as if he was about to argue the point and then stopped himself. That made Julia a tad bit nervous because making him angry was not wise. "I-I want to meet her. I don't want just anyone having influence over her." If his dangerous expression was anything to go by, he didn't take that well either.

Great! Now Devil was angry with her. The day just kept getting better and better.

"The ones that ultimately have control over her are her friends . . . And some of them, you certainly wouldn't approve of." Jin had officially taken over the conversation.

"Friends? What friends?"

"She manifests her powers in the form imaginary friends. These friends protect her from harm by creating in absolute defense and offense around her."

"Wait, are you telling me that her powers can manifest themselves as living beings?"

"Yes, but only she can see them. Heroes _and_ villains she liked in storybooks and television programs are now her bodyguards."

Julia couldn't stop her mouth from falling open in shock. "Are you telling me—how is that even possible?"

"I don't know, and good luck trying to get her to explain her abilities to you."

"That's different."

"And that's . . . in understatement."

"So once she learns self defense . . . I wonder if she will lose that ability."

"She might already know self-defense. Devil never got close enough to find out. He was too happily distracted by her other abilities."

"That's a good time, you two. You should try it," Devil declared.

"I'll let you two eat your lunch, and then we can start the interview."

"Your terms are acceptable." Jin looked around for his bento and realized that it was gone. His lunch was obviously a casualty of Bella and Devil's game. "Well . . . this is an unpleasant development."

"There's more sandwiches in the bag."

"You know I hate how peanut butter feels in my mouth."

"I'm sure that's how crap feels in the mouth," Devil muttered.

"Yes, I remember. It's a variety of sandwiches inside my bag. I didn't know what she liked so I tried everything." Everything just happened to include Tonkatsu sandwiches but he would have to find them himself. She wasn't about to do it for him.

"Good thing you're an overachiever." Jin grabbed the offered sandwich bag from her and started looking through it.

"You're one to talk."

"What do you mean by that?" He found the marked sandwiches and then held the bag out toward her. She all but snatched it from him.

"You go above and beyond the call of duty for everything."

"It's the only way to get things done to the best of my ability."

"Exactly . . . so don't mock me for having the same trait."

"You're mistaken my intent, Julia. I wanted to nurture that side of you, and was willing and able to provide you with everything you needed to help you."

"I didn't need you to provide me with anything, except yourself, and without any strings."

"You had to ask for the one thing that we couldn't grant." He unwrapped his sandwich from the clear paper and took a huge chomp out of it and preceded to eat the sandwich in record time. "Is there another one in there like this?" She nodded and passed the bag back over to him before Devil could snatch it. "That was, actually, pretty good . . . even though it's not completely authentic." Only he would complain that she didn't cut it into fours instead of being grateful she gave it to him at all.

Speaking of Devil. Her earlier comments had gotten under his skin and that wasn't a wise position to be in when him and Jin seemed to be at odds with each other. He might decide to use her as target practice to piss Jin off. "Devil, I can't help but assume that I offended you earlier." The last thing she needed was to be on his proverbial 'Kill Bill' list.

"The princess actually cares that she offended me." That served to amuse him which wasn't what she was going for. "Well this is amazing." He found the sandwich he wanted and threw the bag back at her.

She caught it and smoothly put it back into the larger tote bag. "I thought that you found my insults amusing."

"I do, dearest princess, but it irks me when people treat me like the plague . . . and put this dumbass I'm sharing a body with, on a pedestal of sacrificial goodness."

"I distrust you both."

"And we love that the most about you."

"Why should people's natural distrust and fear of you, upset you?" She was genuinely puzzled. "Because I remember when you first awakened, you got off on that type of reaction."

"Because most give Jin a pass he doesn't deserve."

"Not lately."

"You're lying, princess."

"Jin started his dark path when he continued to keep his alliance with Heihachi after being warned against doing so. He continued it even after I told him about my mother being kidnapped. And the crimes you two committed as Jinvil are on both of your idiot heads."

"Whoa, she's almost as cold blooded as Nina when ripping you to shreds, Kazama-kun."

"Almost?" Jin busied himself by opening his other sandwich. "Why didn't you cut this into fours?"

"The same reason why all the others aren't in all fours," she replied distracted. "Where's Nina, anyway? I thought she would show up after what happened here."

"Doing what she does best," Jin replied. "Protecting my assets."

"Protecting your ass included?"

"Nina was definitely displeased that somebody got passed her security procedures and attacked this place. She'll hunt them down for me . . . since I'm imprisoned here." He concentrated on his sandwich.

Julia rolled her eyes heavenward. "Imprisoned . . . right." It was more like self imposed exile. She watched him inhale that sandwich faster than the one before it.

"What is with this condescending attitude?" Devil demanded amused. Apparently, they were good now.

* * *

After lunch—Jin finishing every sandwich in her bag that wasn't peanut butter—and after Isabella was safely tucked away in her quarters, Julia and Jin sat in their usual positions in his new domain—she sat on futon and he sat cross-legged on a cushion on the floor.

The table was in between them with her notebook and tape recorder resting on it.

"When we last talked, we were talking of Yoshimitsu-san. You noted that he was different than before. How so?"

"He seemed . . . youthful, almost. Where as before I figured him for a very old soul. And his way of greeting me was . . . different." Almost like he'd taken lessons from Xiaoyu on proper ways to greet people.

* * *

"Kazama-san? That is you . . . isn't it Kazama-san?"

"Yoshimitsu-sensei." Jin was instantly on guard because the armored warrior had caught him completely off guard, and to be perfectly honest, he almost scared the crap out of him. Jin was in a secluded part of the forest, sitting on an old tree stump, very near to the arena the Tekken Tournament would start in, contemplating the meaning of his cursed existence.

"Wow, with that hood on . . . you almost fooled me."

_Wow? _"Have you come to say 'I told you so'?"

"No, I actually came to apologize."

"You were right."

"That's not something to be proud of," Yoshimitui said. "And just between us, Kazama-kun, your jii-san has to be a lunatic of some kind. So his actions were nothing personal against you."

_Did he just call me Kazama-kun? _His tone, also, made it seem as if he was imparting some wise advice that Jin should take to heart. "Whatever could have given you that idea?" He couldn't help but mutter. There was something off about this entire scene.

This was not the Yoshimitsu that he knew but somehow it was. Which didn't make any sense to him.

"Never again let your guard down in reference to anything that has to do with him. If you do I'll personally finish you, myself."

"You're welcome to try," Jin replied, "because, you'll be doing us both a favor."

"Aww, Kazama-kun, don't say that."

"But only after I finish him."

"Are you stupid or something?" Yoshimitsu was wagging his index finger in front of Jin's face like he was disciplining an unruly child. "If he couldn't finish you with a gun shot to the head . . . how, pray tell, are you going to finish him?"

"You shouldn't talk so much. You'll definitely give your secret away." Not that Jin had actually figured out the the secret it could be one of two options—

"Apparently, I already have!" He started spinning so fast that almost made Jin dizzy just watching. "Escape plan initiated."

_Did he just say, escape plan intit_—before he could finish the thought, Yoshimitsu surprised him by throwing a smoke bomb near his feet, causing Jin to fall backwards off the tree stump on his back coughing and rubbing his traumatized eyes.

* * *

"He did not say 'escape plan initiated?'" Julia was trying very hard to remain the picture of a calm reporter but her lips twitched as she tried to force back her amusement.

"But he did." Jin's lips upturned into a ghost of a smile as he watched her cover her mouth in her attempt to keep her composure but her shoulders shaking in merriment gave her away. "And then he was gone. As I was getting to my feet and trying to wipe the blindness from my eyes, just like in my first meeting with him . . . I heard his voice all around me. And he said, 'Wow, you didn't fall did you, Kazama-kun? My apologies. I didn't mean for that to happen.' He then laughed at me,which made his apology a lie."

And with that hilarious picture in her head . . . her rich laughter broke free. "You know . . . it's rude to laugh at another person's misfortunes."

"You saying that he was different is the understatement of the year."

"I think that on a subconscious level . . . he wanted me to know he was different."

"So . . . is he a different being altogether? Or does his personality evolve along with his powers?"

"I can't answer that."

"Fair enough." Her inquisitive expression stated plainly that she was dying to know the answer and the mystery of it would plague her for months. "This interview isn't about him, after all . . . But I can't help being curious about the other contestants in the tournament."

It was endearing to him how her thought pattern was on the same wavelength as his own. When Yoshimitsu had been talking to him, he had been trying to figure out that very thing and that was why he got so surprised by the smoke bomb. Although, evolved would not be a word that he would use in relation to the personality change. De-evolved would be a more appropriate term.

"He never spoke around me, but in battle, he used the exact same style as before," Julia said lost in thought.

"Yep, he was just uglier." Devil had stressed this point in their last interview and was determined—as important as it was—for it not to be forgotten.

"Your father made his return, from the grave, during this tournament. How did that make you feel?"

"Just that I . . . there was now another that I would have to end to sever the Mishima line forever. And it brought up the annoying point that Yoshimitsu had made. Killing a Mishima is easy, for another one. . . but the dead Mishima staying that way . . . seemed to be another challenge, entirely."

"It was a fools errand, until you cracked the code, Kazama-san."

"And what a joy filled event that was . . . right, onna-san?"

"Wrong," Devil snapped. "You're still here."

"And without me 'still being here' you would cease to exist," Jin replied.

"A mere technicality."

"Ling Xiaoyu." The name brought Jin's attention back to Julia. He was amazed that she didn't join in with Devil to annoy him but this way they could cover more ground in the interview time. "She knew something had happened to you . . . and was desperate to save you. Why didn't you let her try?"

"It was too late for anyone to stop the inevitable. The Jin Kazama that could be swayed by her and insignificant things like amusement parks died when he was shot by his jii-sama."

"Why didn't you just tell her that instead of avoiding her?"

"Avoidance was easier."

"Maybe for you . . . but not for her."

"All I could do was warn her about my grandfather. But irony of ironies . . . he actually likes her and was truly no threat to her."

"That wasn't all you could do."

"There is certain topics I do not want to discuss. Xiaoyu-chan is now one of them."

"But when we first started this interview you singled her out as a major player in this story. It's only natural I would broach the subject."

"Then why don't we talk about you instead?"

"My role in this particular tournament was short and sweet. We met, you defeated me, and I left."

"We waltzed, you tried to lead, and I dominated."

"Huh?"

"I was romanticizing your words."

"Lets move on to Heihachi." Well, she was no fun today. She had managed to stay calm throughout the entire interview so far. Even when he deliberately tried to bait her into reacting.

"Jin defeated him and just when I was about to awaken and kill Heihachi . . . Jin's annoying battleaxe of a mother showed up and suppressed me."

"I can honestly say that is the first time I have ever heard anyone speak negatively of her."

"I can't stand her. She is such a damn nag."

"I think he is confusing himself with my mother," Jin muttered.

"Devil, when did you get so comfortable with the world to let this side of your personality surface?"

"When Jin decided to work with me, instead of fighting." He grinned evilly. "And since I didn't have to be constantly on my guard against him . . . I could relax."

"Same here," Jin replied. "When I stopped trying to suppress him . . . he stopped trying to do the same to me."

"You guys seem to be at odds with each other now. Why is that?"

"I don't want to be here and he does."

"But, that was obvious before but you were still united, then. Now, Jinvil barely surfaces to annoy me anymore."

"What on earth is a jinvil?"

"When you two are truly in harmony with each other you, more often than not, form this one personality . . . that is one of the most obnoxious beings alive."

"Well, don't look at me," Devil muttered. "He's the one that is breaking the bond that we created."

"You two need to get it together. This may not be a big a priority as these interviews seem to be to you . . . but it should be. There is someone out there that has declared war on Jinvil. And the unknown identity of that someone disturbs me . . . and should disturb you."

"What?"

"No person on this planet is brave enough to attack your tower. There is no person stupid enough to attack this tower. You showed modern man true fear. So whoever attacked this place isn't scared of you . . . and was intelligent enough to do so while I was here, so they could provoke a real response from you."

"Julia."

"Earth can't handle another being with your power and former mindset."

"And here I thought that you would be rooting for the other guy."

"Well, apparently, the other guy has even less respect for my existence than you do."

That sobered him. "You could be overreacting."

"Could be . . . but what if I'm right? If you are serious about pretending to be imprisoned in this tower . . . in an effort to atone for your past crimes. I'm much rather keep you around than the other guy . . . who could be much worse." Insulted and complimented in the same breath. That rare art form was one of Julia's many skills that he missed over the years.

"We could just let him take over and continue to pretend as if we're imprisoned," Jin muttered. "And leave everyone to their own fate."

"But we both know you won't do that," Julia replied. "That is not your style . . . and even if it were, whoever is out there . . . seems to be concentrating on you first. So he, she, or it . . .would just force you to make a move."

"Do you know something that I don't?"

"No, it's just the same general feeling of dread I had right before you declared World War Jin."

"Well, that can't be good. Because we know how that turned out."

"Just get it together and remember your vow."

"We'll try."

"Is there anything else of interest you wanted to cover about the fourth tournament before we move along to the fifth?"

"Only to state the obvious. That I failed to achieve my true goals . . . and left both my father and my ojii-san to their own fates . . . instead of ending them. Which resulted in the supposed death of my ojii-san."

". . . And the resurrection of another Mishima," Julia prompted.

"Obviously . . . we were roaches in another life."

"In another life?" Julia asked which amused Devil to know end. "Because, I'm quite sure it's this one."

"So . . . we start with the fifth?" Jin asked choosing to ignore them.

She nodded and then replied, "It's the one that ignited the dark cycle of your life."

"The kick ass cycle," Devil declared.

"That's one title you can call it." Julia's sardonic tone and expression implied that her title for this change was something a lot more derogatory.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **So Devil didn't get around to asking his 'why can't I exist' question but from this chapter, I think the reader can see that it something that bothers him. The 5th tournament is the last one that I will be following the action game storyline but then . . . Jin's reign of terror begins.


End file.
